Rebirth
by chloeknightshade27
Summary: When Bella dies in the Battle against Victoria, it means a new town, a new school, and a new life for the Cullens. But will a completely devastated Edward be able to cope with his loss and a girl who's scent is somehow worse than Bella's was? Edward
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hey Readers! If you clicked on this, Hurrah for you! Well, pretty much, I wanted to write a fic on Twilight that had a different character instead of Bella. Don't get me wrong, I love Bells, but I've always thought that she should've been spunkier and less...breakable. So, I'm going to try! ;) It'll mainly be in Edward's POV, Alice's POV, and Erika's POV.**

**Edward's POV**

I always assumed that we'd have forever. As much as I hated the thought of changing her, I knew that I would, out of need. She said that she wanted me to, ever since James had bitten her. But I couldn't bear the thought of her doomed to a cold life as a monster. If I had known the pain of not having her by my side back then, I would have bitten her in a heartbeat. Well, in my non-existent heartbeat.

I know that pain now.

Images seem to flash throughout my mind every moment of each tireless day. Images of her: Bella laughing, Bella gazing up at me, Bella kissing me, Bella lying completely still in the forest, paler than she had ever been. Lifeless. And the forever haunting image of Victoria standing over her, my angel, laughing with triumph. She was still smiling when I ripped her head off.

"Edward?" someone asked tentatively. I turned my head slightly to the side, gazing lifelessly back at the person who brought me out of my broodings. Alice stared at me, her topaz eyes looking at me expectantly.

"Yes, Alice?" I sighed, not wanting to talk. Yes, it had been a year. A year full of grief and the eyes of my family looking at me like I was mad. I probably am.

"As you know, we start school today. Now, I know it's another high school like any other, but please, _please_ try to look happier!"Alice commanded. She knew my pain, and felt it too. But not the same pain. Hers wasn't all consuming.

"If it's just another high school, then why should I be happier?" I said quietly.

"Well, for one, you've got Esme worried sick!" she ranted,"Two, because you look so depressing that you're going to scare all of the humans more than usual! Three, because if you don't I'll rip you to shreds and then-"

"Fine." I interrupted her."I'll look more human. But I make no promises of actually being happy." I felt terrible snapping at Alice, but I was disgruntled. Death would be more welcoming than this life. Far more welcoming.

_Edward. You have to try to forget. Please, for our sake? We want to stay in this town, at least for a while.... Bella wouldn't want you to throw away your life... You know that._ Alice thought at me. Her gaze was pleading.

"How do you know that?" I growled. "I'll never forget her, you know _that_! And I won't even try to! The point of my existence has extinguished, Alice! You know it as do I!" She looked shocked. It was probably the longest speech I had given since her death.

She quickly recovered."Edward Mason Cullen!" she glared at me. "I miss Bella as well, but you are going to stop groveling right this minute! If not for us, then for her!"

We glowered at each other for a moment, silent. Then I swung my back-pack over my shoulder and stalked out of our new house and climbed into my Volvo, waiting for the others to finish getting ready for school so I could start the first day of another torturous school.

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**Alice's POV**

I rubbed my temple as my brother abruptly left our conversation. He had retreated into a state of depression and anger this past year. I missed him. I missed her... Throughout my life, I'd never had any real friends. When I was human, I had a few friends who tended to ignore my odd sense of future events before I was shipped off to the asylum. Well, I_ think _I did. My human life is still so very foggy. There's Jasper, and he is so much more than just a friend. Still, Jasper is a guy, so it's not the same. Rosalie is my sister, but since we have only a few things in common, she and I have never clicked like girlfriends. Esme and I have a mother/daughter bond. Strong, but not the same.

And then, there was Bella.

The second I saw her in my vision, I knew that I was finally going to have a true friend. The feelings that flooded through me were... exuberant. It was perfect. Edward would have someone, and I would have a girl my "age" who accepted me. ME. I would've jumped up and started dancing, but my family was staring open-mouthed at Edward, so I contented myself with smiling smugly.

Ah. If only that had lasted. I can still see her sprawled out on the grass, as her eyes dimmed when Victoria stabbed her, right in the heart with a rusty dagger. Her death was fast, with no time for one of us to bite her and let her stay. I don't know what was worse: the sadness that overwhelmed me, or the look on Edward's face, shadowed in total anguish.

I stood up out of my chair with a small sigh. "JAZZ, EMMET, AND ROSE! HURRY IT UP!" I bellowed. They still would've heard if I had only whispered it, but shouting was so much more fun. Three blurs streaked down the stairs. Rosalie was as pretty as ever with tight blue jeans and a pale pink tang-top that was beaded along the top. Emmet was wearing khaki pants and a dark green polo, a mischievous grin on his face that meant that he was quite obviously plotting something that I would have to look into. And Jasper grinned at me consolingly, apparently he felt the tension, worry, and sadness in my feelings. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a bright blue sweater. I took his arm and dragged him into Edward's car with Rosalie and Emmet following. Esme and Carlisle appeared behind us, and Esme pecked each of our cheeks affectionantly."Have a good day." she told us in her soothing, maternal voice.

Carlisle smiled."Try not to make the teachers frustrated by your knowledge on the first day," he winked. We all laughed. All of the teachers we've ever had (and that's a lot of teachers) have gotten tired of our endless knowledge of high school courses by the end of the first week.

"Like that'll happen."Emmet snorted. "I could teach their classes blindfolded."

"Yes, you could," I teased, "But humans in America have laws against cruel and unusual punishment." He swatted at me playfully, but I ducked and continued towards the car. Esme looked over worriedly at Edward, and offered him a small wave. He nodded stiffly, expressionless. Claire de Lune was pouring out of the speakers. He didn't acknowledge us as we came in, until he cranked the car and sped off toward Ashwood High. I looked at him intently and sighed. This was going to be a very hard day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Okay, so the first chp. is up! hope you all liked it! If you did read it, please review! PRETTY PLEASE! IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS ALICE?! yea... no idea where that came from... Well, this chapter is going to be mostly in Erika's POV, and there might be some Edward(okay, a lotta Edward, but ya gotta luv him!) and some Alice(you don't like her, and i smack you). So, yep!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, except in my dreams! BUT I do own the plot and Erika, who is totally mine. So HA!**

**Erika's POV**

The first day of school. I know I should be pulling more enthusiasm into this, but Ashwood High is as exciting as staring into space for six hours, twiddling your thumbs. But maybe that's just because staring and twiddling is what each student does all day. The Town of Ashwood has a lonely little population of less than five-hundred, which means that everyone knows everyone. But it also means that Ashwood is a small town with very little to do. And did I mention the rain, fog, and cold? We have that too. Lucky us. I'm a sophomore- seventeen and ready to get out of high school. Summer had been great, but it was officially over, along with most of my happiness.

"ERIKA!" a muffled shout made itself heard through my wall from outside. I sighed and assessed myself in my mirror. I was in faded blue-jeans with a green blouse that matched my eyes. My blond hair was down and my bangs were tucked back with a barrette. I smiled as I noticed that my naturally olive skin still somehow looked tan even though Ashwood never had more than twelve days of sun during the whole summer break. It was a sign that I was different from this wet little town, which was a major accomplishment to me. "ERIKA!" the voice shouted again. I grinned and pulled on my brown jacket and ran outside, nearly falling on my face as I stumbled to the door of my friend's blue Honda civic.

Kira laughed as I piled in. "Smooth. Remind me again why I drive you when you have a car and a license?"

"Because you have a hybrid and you spent half of last year convincing us to carpool?" my other friend Zoe suggested dryly from the backseat.

"Touche'." Kira's gray eyes sparkled. Her long black hair was in a braid that dangled over her shoulder and her constantly smiling face was freckled. Zoe's long light brown hair was loose and flowing, and her eyes were hazel-brown behind her black glasses. They were my best friends, and probably the only lively thing about this town.

"Besides, how else would I get to drive you crazy with my constant lateness?" I asked innocently.

Kira snorted."You'd find a way."

"Ah, but this saves us so much thinking time." Zoe put in.

"Right, because you have to keep track of how much time you have to think each day."

"Well we wouldn't want to think too much, now would we?" I said, keeping a straight face for a bit, but then I started laughing with them.

After ten minutes of driving, Kira pulled the car into the parking lot at the high school and parked in our usual spot. But usually, there wasn't an expensive silver Volvo next to us. Zoe's jaw dropped."Woah! Look at that thing! It's like- like-" her eyes widened.

"Extremely awesome and obviously not cheap."I finished her incoherent sentence."Apparently we have new students."

"Why would they come to Ashwood?"Kira wondered.

"Dunno. Maybe their parents moved like mine did."I reminded her. Before coming to Ashwood, I had spent eleven of my first years of life in sunny Florida. We stepped out of the Civic and grabbed our bags."To homeroom?" I asked.

"I suppose we must."Zoe sighed. We all seperated and walked down different hallways.

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By lunch, I was less worried about whether my teachers were evil, and more worried about if it was going to rain again, which would make me very irritated, and I was in a pretty happy mood at the moment. I plopped down next to Zoe, Kira, Katie, Brooke, Sam, and Rachel at our table."Hey guys. How're your classes?"

"Life-threatening." Katie answered, shaking her head of red hair in annoyance."I got stuck with Ms. Linconson, and she's already assigned an essay."

"On summer vacation?"Kira asked.

"No, on 'which historical figure most influenced today life.' And she's expecting it to be ten pages long!"

"Harsh."I sympathized.

"In other news, we've located the new kids." Kira told me.

"Who are they?" I asked, mildly interested.

Kira flicked her head towards another table where five teenagers sat alone. They were all inhumanly beautiful: a girl with blond hair, a girl with spiky black hair, a boy with blond hair, another guy with brown curls, and a guy who was staring out the window at the rain. He had bronze hair and was easily the handsomest even though the other two were good-looking as well. But that wasn't why he caught my attention. Or well, not the main reason why. It was mainly because he looked depressed and forlorn. I felt a wave of sympathy towards this stranger I had never met. "Why are they sitting alone?" I asked.

Sam shrugged."They just sat there."

I stood up."Well, we're going to say hi." I announced. The others all stared up at me, but one by one, they stood up.

"You're going to scare them." Zoe chuckled.

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**Edward's POV**

Since my Bella died, I have not gone to school until today. Somehow, I had forgotten how annoying being surrounded by human thoughts were. How this could've happened escapes me. I must have been _very_secluded. Lunch is so much worse than classes, though. During classes the humans are thinking mainly about questions and grades. But in lunch, the subject area is much larger. Thoughts seemed to be centered around us most of the day, even in classes. People were wondering who we were, wondering why we came here, why we were so... good-looking. If they knew...

The sea of mental voices was about to drive me crazy.

_Ms. Linconson is an old bat..._

_Ooh, the new guy is hot with two t's!_

_I hate all of this paperwork! I should've been a lawyer, like Mother said! More money than teaching!_

_We have _got_ to see that new movie.._

"Why are they sitting alone?" a girl's voice asked from a table or two down. The words that were out loud caught my attention. Someone was having a conversation about us.

"They just sat there." a boy's voice answered.

"Well, we're going to say hi." the girl replied. That almost made me laugh, didn't she see how we had separated ourselves? Apparently not, I decided as I heard the scraping of her chair as she stood up and walked toward us. Her friends reluctantly followed.

"You're going to scare them." another girl teased, which gave me the urge to laugh agin. _Them_ scare _us_.

She walked up to our table and we all turned to look at her. Instead of flinching like most humans would, she smiled. She was petite, around Alice's build, but with wavy caramel blond hair. Her eyes were a bright and friendly green. "Hello." she said in a pleasant voice."My name's Erika. Welcome to Ashwood High." And that's when her smell hit me like a ton of bricks.

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**Ha-ha. poor edward. okay, here's an answer to a thing you might not get. I asked my friend what kind of car Kira should have, and she said 'a blue Honda civic hybrid.' yea, so there you go! PLEEEEAAAASE R&R!!!! it makes me so happy!-Chloe **


	3. Chapter 3

**YES! I'm finally learning how the heck you post stuff on here! HUZZAH! well, i say this now, but watch me get all frustrated again next time. oh well. to the two people who reviewed me: YOU RAWK! You get a shiny silver Volvo each! AND a free Edward with every purchase! so you get both! here are my answers to you/statements:**

** McPatty: it's a temporary thingy, don't worry, I'm working on it, but I'm computer impaired!*sighs* i still am trying to get this, so if you ever come across the outsiders by S.E. Hinton, I'm sorry, it'll be gone soon. it's the only way I know how to post so far.**

**1412****:** **THANKS! that made me feel so happy, I'm glad you liked it! i hope my little story continues to please you. *bows***

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**Edward's POV**

Her scent tore down my throat, making me wince and clench my teeth. Venom began to flood my mouth and my body tensed, ready to spring. I forced myself not to breathe. I looked at the others, and they looked completely indifferent to the mouthwatering blood of the girl in front of us. That smell... it was so intoxicating that I was struggling not to kill half of the small student body that was assembled in this cafeteria so I could get to her. She smelt somehow better than even Bella did, which was something I thought was entirely impossible. But where Bella's smell was floral, this girl's scent was somehow... citrus. Yes, citrus to a man stranded in a desert without anything to drink for weeks, offered a juicy orange.

"This is Kira, Zoe, Brooke, Sam, and Katie."she was telling us, pointing to each member of her group as she named them. Of course, these humans would have to die first... I shuddered as I realized that I was plotting a massacre after only being near this girl for less than a minute.

Alice smiled at her warmly."Hey. I'm Alice, and this is Jasper, Emmet, Rosalie, and Edward." When Alice said my name, I looked up briefly into the face of my tormentor.

She was smiling.

For a moment, I got caught up in her eyes. They were a brilliant green, I now realized. Like little emeralds. I subconsciously made the mistake of breathing again. A new bought of pain raked up and down my throat. Alice was now smiling smugly, but at what, I didn't know. Her eyes were clearing- she looked like she had seen something. I frowned. I must have missed her vision while I was caught up in the girl's scent. Alice was now mentally singing the ABC's to block me out. She had something good, but she wasn't going to tell me.

I came to a conclusion about my existance: The universe was officially out to get me.

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**Alice's POV**

Most teenagers hate school, I love it. And I know this has nothing to do with me not being human, because none of the others care for it as much as I do. I personally think that it's because I like being around people, and knowing random things about them that will happen. When I knew my teacher was going to give a pop-quiz, I would smile like it was Christmas when I saw the shock on his or her face when I passed. I think school is humorous.

One thing about school always gets me down: we're outcasts. I think of myself as a very social person, or at least I would be, if I could. I made myself content with my little family and tried not to imagine that there was another Bella in my life.

The beginning of school was easy. Two of my morning classes were with Jasper, and the other was with Emmet. By lunch, I was happy, despite the waves of sadness and anger pouring out of Edward. I could feel them even without Jasper's power. We found ourselves an empty table and ignored the comments and whispers about us. Until that girl walked up.

The first thing I noticed: She wasn't afraid of us at all, which was abnormal.

"Hello, my name is Erika." she smiled."Welcome to Ashwood High."

Secound thing I noticed: Edward was in so much pain, he looked like he was giving birth.

"Hey. I'm Alice, and this is Jasper, Emmet, Rosalie, and Edward." I said with a grin. Suddenly, the cafeteria disappeared and I saw Erika and I laughing together in a field. The sun was beaming down on us, and I was sparkling like a diamond, and she wasn't running. She knew.

A laughing Edward was sitting by Erika, his glittering arms wrapped around her.

The cafeteria flooded back into view, and I noticed Edward hadn't been paying attention to me at all. It took all of my self control not to jump into the air and do a fist pump. Edward frowned and looked at me. I quickly focused: _A B C D E F G H I J K L-M-N-O-P! _

_

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**Erika's POV**

I stared into the depths of the dark gold eyes of Edward. His eyes were so distracting, that I didn't notice that I wasn't brreathing until he looked away from me and looked towards Alice. I shook my head to clear my thoughts."So you guys just moved here?" I asked.

The boy with the curly brown hair- I think his name was Emmet- nodded,"Yeah, from Washington." he said, not going into detail.

"So you're used to the cold and wet?" I guessed.

Alice nodded."Yes. I suppose you are too, since you live in a pretty wet place as well."

"Not really." I shook my head. "I lived in Florida for a long time, until Middle School. I'm more of a summer person at heart."

Zoe laughed."In other words, she thinks that anything bellow sixty-five is cold."

I laughed."Yes, I do." I shrugged. "But it's aslmost always below sixty-five here."

"And cloudy." Kira added. "You rarely see the sky." I hate that part about Ashwood. It's like being locked in a cage with no escape.

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**Edward's POV**

A feeling of unexplained sadness overwhelmed me when this girl- Erika- said that she disliked the cold. I told myself that it was because she sounded like Bella, but for another unknown, irrational reason, I wanted her to turn her head so I could look at her eyes again. Instead of dwelling on this wish, I searched for her mental "voice" amoung the others.

She had none.

I stared at her in shock. She looked so unlike Bella- she was almost her opposite- tan, blond, green eyes- but she had another likeness: she was silent to me.

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**Okay, so I know that some things don't make sense quite yet, but they will. the reason why erika is silent is NOT the same reason why Bella was, but I won't say why yet! R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: ....okay, I know that I've only written three chapters, but my reviews is still at two! not that I don't love those ones any less, but i want some more!!! :D PLEASE! Well, I noticed last chapter was a little short, so this one is going to be longer.... I hope.**

**Alice's POV**

The bell rang, causing many students nearby to jump up and race to classes across campus. I laughed quietly when I saw a freshman run straight into three very large seniors. Poor kid. Someone was going to get dumped in the dumpster.

"What class do you have next?"Erika asked me.

"Uh, English?"I looked at my schedule.

"Me too. Come on, I'll show you." she smiled and grabbed my hand and pulled me up, not even flinching from its cold temperature. "Bye everyone!" she called behind us as she pulled me to our next class. When we arrived in the Enriched language arts, we sat down at two desks next to each other. Erika was silent, which didn't seem like her, even though I had known her for a grand total of ten and a half minutes.

_Alice?_ she asked.

"Yes?" I replied. We both turned to stare at each other as we realized that her question hadn't been said aloud. I was ecstatic. I had developed Edward's power of mind reading! I quickly turned to another student and tried to hear their thoughts and heard...

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Darn it.

_Uh...._ Erika thought. _Alice! What the crap am I doing?! _

I shook my head; I had no idea what was going on, for once. "I think that you're... telepathic?"

She stared at me dubiously.

"Yeah," I said quickly."E.S.P.! You might have special powers of the mind!" There. A somewhat logical answer. It could happen, right?

Apparently, Erika didn't think so. _You have got to be kidding me. E.S.P.? What's going on, Alice?!_

We stared into each other's eyes intently, both wanting the other to give in. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"I... I can't do it anymore.."she muttered, trying extremely hard to transfer her thoughts.

"Maybe it was a fluke." Right, fluke my vampire butt! This girl had some major power for a human, the kind that screamed change potential. I wondered what she would have if she _was_ changed. I had never seen a human with so much of a hold on their ability, besides myself and Bella.

She cocked her head to the side with one of her eyebrows raised. She wasn't buying it.

".. Or maybe the tides are having an effect on you! Or the moon! Or a comet in the area! Yeah, I've heard of people who have obtained supernatural powers from comets!" I babbled on. If I gave her enough options, she would choose one and forget about it. I think... No, she would. She wasn't going to find out about us anytime today, of that I was sure. So she was going to forget about it, right?

Wrong.

"Sure, Alice." she said, and I brightened. "You _can_ tell me the _real_ reason why after class!" she continued, like I had suggested it. "Because I know you know that I know that you know why I could do that!" she finished.

I stared at her."What? I got lost around the first 'you know'."

Erika sighed."You're going to spill later."

I grumbled an incoherent reply as Mr. Jackson stood up in the front of the room and began going over semester goals. My semester goal: Get Erika to forget this ever happened. For now.

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**Erika's POV**

My semester goal: Get Alice to tell me why this happened. For real.

I know that she knows something about this. I mean _comets?_ Get real.

I don't understand how I did it. I just thought it at her, like I was going to have a conversation with her. I wasn't going to go through with it out loud (at least, not in the middle of English), but when I thought about what I was going to say to her, she heard me! And it's not like that happens all of time to me, this is a first. A very confusing and frustrating first.

What I was planning to say was lost in that confusion: Alice? Do you know why Edward was glaring at me?

Because, I wasn't being paranoid. He was giving me a death glare throughout lunch. And I was going to demand why the next time I saw him. And then I was going to get Alice to tell me what she knew. I promised myself this.

They weren't going to get off the hook easily.

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**Okay, so this chapter wasn't too much longer, sorry. :(. but please review!!! It makes me feel better!**

**-Chloe.**


	5. Chapter 5

**YES! THANK YOU REVIEWERS! YOU RAWK! I know have a grand total of 5 reviews! this made me so happy that i literally started dancing around my house(until I tripped and landed on my face... and then fell down the stairs... heh), which proves to me that I have no life.... But I'd like more reviews, please! For those who did review: free shiny Volvos for you all! and here are your Edwards! And here are my replies:**

**Stormy Gale****: Thanks! I know! It's like all of the blonds are deranged psychopaths! I am also a blond, and I'm not evil!... unless you like bribe me with sugar or something in a 'come to the dark side' sorta voice.**

**princess07890**:** Thank you as well! I have a plan for why Erika is silent, and I'll give some hints about it in this chapter, but I'm not telling yet, probably in the sixth or seventh chapter!**

**TheAddictedFanWriter****: Thanks, again! I'll try to update as much as possible! I'm sort of sick right now, so I've gotten to update lots! I have to go back to school tomorrow...yuk. but i'll try to keep updating!**

**In this chapter, I'll have more Erika/Edward, and hints for reasons for Erika's silentness! Here's a quickie: There are no comets hovering above Ashwood! :D!**

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**Edward's POV**

I dread going back to school today. The second lunch was over, I ditched and ran home. I didn't know what was worse in that moment: the scent of the girl still in my lungs, or Esme and Carlisle's hopefulness. I find that hope absurd. No one could possibly mean anything to me like Bella did. But I had to go through the experience of running away from a human girl again, feeling as much of a coward as the first time. I spent a week and a half in the nearby mountains, trying to clear my thoughts. I had returned and fully loathed the idea of going to school.

And yet, part of me is ready to go back to Ashwood High and compare schedules with her. I loathe myself.

Alice had come home yesterday (my first day back, though I didn't attend school), intently concentrating on Jasper. She slipped up once and thought: _I wonder how Erika did that.._, but she quickly caught herself and started talking to Rosalie about clothes. I retreated from that discussion. Listening to Rose's thoughts about herself out loud and mentally at the same time were enough to drive me insane, and Alice knew that. Cheater.

Lord, I just sounded like Emmet.

Once again, I was in my car before the others were ready. I sat thinking about what I would do if I had any classes with her, if she sat by us at lunch... I would have to hold my breath during most of it, of course, and I should avoid eye contact. I still couldn't explain why I had gotten so absorbed in her eyes that first day...

Alice raced into the garage, a black and white blur."I call shot-gun!"she shouted as she dove into the passenger's seat.

"No fair!" Emmet protested as he chased after her. Rosalie and Jasper followed, walking at a civilized pace.

"Alls fair in cars and war!"Alice taunted, buckling herself up. But I doubt that a measly buckle would stop Emmet. Emmet opened the back seat, and he and the other two piled in, Emmet muttering all the while.

"'S not fair, she cheats."he grumbled."She knew I wanted shotgun." Rosalie rolled her eyes and began observing her reflection in the side window.

_Edward's not any fun anymore._ The thought came from the still sulking Emmet. _He used to cheat too. Poor kid, hasn't been the same since..._

I gritted my teeth. The image in his mind of Bella on the grass flashed in front of me through his thoughts. Like I needed reminding of what had happened. I wouldn't forget.

I pulled into the parking lot right next to- guess who- Erika and her two friends, whose names I hadn't been paying attention to. Erika waved at Alice, who waved back. While I was gone the two girls had gotten close, I realized. Like on the first day of school, the girl had no idea what danger she was in.

Alice jumped out of the car with Jasper in tow and met the three smiling girls on the sidewalk. Erika's face suddenly assumed a determined look as she noticed me. She started walking towards my car. Even if I couldn't read her thoughts, I knew that she was going to demand a reason for my rudeness. I took a deep, preparing breath, and waited for her to come up.

Alice grabbed her arm."You can talk to him at lunch, we'll be late!"she said._ There. _she thought at me_. Now you have time to get your story straight._I knew I should be thankful, but a bit of resentment flashed through me that Alice had stopped her. And maybe a little bit of... a forgotten feeling- jealousy, maybe?- at the easiness of Alice touching her arm. Alice wasn't struggling not to kill four girls linked arms and Alice grabbed a pained looking Jasper as they walked into the school.

I smacked my head against the steering wheel in frustration, earning me a slight dent and two bewildered stares from Rosalie and Emmet.

_Poor kid. Lost his mind. _Emmet shook his head.

_Good thing he did that to his car. If he'd done it to _mine_, I would've killed him. He's completely insane. _Rosalie thought with a raised eyebrow.

I flung open the door and stormed off to first period.

* * *

Lunch couldn't have come soon enough. I walked into the large cafeteria and saw the table we had been sitting at yesterday. It was completely empty.

I turned my gaze towards Erika's table in astonishment. My siblings were sitting next to them. Apparently they had begun doing so in my absence. Alice motioned toward a chair across from Erika. Of course, that's where they'd put me. Right across from her. I shrugged and strode across the sea of tables and sat down.

Her scent overwhelmed me again, but I was able to control my features. She was already prepared to drill me, and I wasn't going to give her anymore evidence to incriminate me with.

"Hello." I said, forcing out a calm tone.

"Hey, Edward." Erika said in a voice that confirmed that she was going to confront me. I was caught off gaurd by a unreasonable pleasure at her saying my name, which I quickly forced down. She looked me straight in the eyes.

"So,"she continued."You haven't been to school in a while." Yes, to keep from killing you. You're welcome.

"Yes." I said curtly.

"Well, Alice wouldn't tell me why, and I'd also like to know why you were so rude to me on your last day." she said, straight to the point.

"I was rude?" I said in a tone that suggested innocence.

"Yes, you were."

"Wasn't."

"Was." she persisted

"Wasn't." I retorted.

"You kind of were, Edward." Alice put in. Erika smiled triumphantly and I shot Alice a look that plainly said: 'traitor.'

"See?" Erika grinned."You were glaring at me for no reason at all." Actually, I had a very good reason, one that would give you nightmares.

"Well, I'm sorry that I did. Happy?"I said shortly.

"Exuberant." she said dryly. _Was that so hard?_ she thought.

"What?!" I said out loud. She had been silent the first day.

_Ha! It worked! Told you, Alice!_ Erika was beaming. Alice rolled her eyes."It's nothing Erika!"

My jaw dropped. Alice could hear her too. I struggled to find Erika's mental "voice", but it wasn't there.

"What's nothing?"Kira cocked her head.

"Nothing."Alice, Erika, and I said at the same time.

Alice and Erika's eyes met as they had a silent argument that I doubt required telepathy.

Erika frowned."Shoot. It's gone."

Alice was smiling in victory."Told ya- fluke!"

Erika's eyes suddenly went hazy. I looked at Alice in alarm, but she too looked mistified. Erika's emerald eyes became clear again, and peirced mine sharply. She opeed her mouth and asked in an inquisitive and sympathetic tone:

"Who's Bella?"

* * *

**Clif Hanger! HANGING FROM A CLIIIIIFF! AND THAT'S WHY HE'S CALLED CLIFFHANGER! Oh come on, don't tell me you've never seen between the lions! anyway, i left off with a sort of clifffy! now i've gotten like 200-somethin hits on my story, and 6 reviews! come ON PEOPLE! Sometimes I feel like stomping my foot and pouting like a five year old, refusing to write until I get so many reviews! i just might... probably not, but i warn yous...**

**-Chloe**


	6. Chapter6

**604. 604 hits on my story, and only 12 reviews. *bangs head against table* REVIEW! COME ON! if you like it, review! if you don't, review! If you think I'm insane, REVIEW! PLEEEEAAAAAASE! To the 8 who have reviewed since my last chapter(you RAWK!):**

**McPatty****: you may review as many times as you like, it makes me feel good to say: i have more reviews! thanks for thinking that this is amazing!**

**TheAddictedFanWriter****: No, Erika can not read minds. i personally think her gift is really cool, but I shall not reveal it at the moment! more hints in this chapter, and probably I'll announce it in the next chapter(7). I have a lot of fun writing the Erika/Bella moments, glad you like em! Yes, poor Edward, stuck with an awkward question!**

**FoxyAlterEgos**: **Well, heres the new chapter! ;D! **

**.: Thanks, glad you liked chapter 5! sorry for the cliffy, but it shall be answered!**

**506thpir****: Well, I dont know about THE best twilight story, but I'm happy that you found it and like it! i just hope I can give everyone what they expect a good fic to have. The wrath of my fans does indeed frighten me! lol. but, i'm also happy you think its funny! erika's just really sarcastic! its fun to do stuff with her and Alice.**

**princess07890**: **Once again, it is not my fault! it is not a random chapter! my english teacher made us do an essay for that book, and that's my title page! it's the document that I erase and write chapters on! it is temporarily there and then replaced by a chapter! i'm sorry!**

**iplaytheclarinet**: **First of all, I play the clarinet too, so you rock! ** **and I'm it makes me happy to know that you think it's funny!**

**sunshine'n'sarcasm**: **Sorry for the cliffy! but i just HAD to! the real chapter 6 is now up, sorry it took me so long to update, my life is crazy! thanks for those comments, i try to make my characters as real as possible! and the humor is realistic because i'm a very humorous person!he-he!**

**To you all: YOU GET VOLVOS! AND EDWARDS! some of you now have two each, do NOT misplace them!**

* * *

**Erika's POV**

"What?!" Alice gaped at me like I had asked her what day the world was going to end, and if she could make note of it in my P.D.A. for me.

"Who..Is...Bella...?" I said slowly, looking at her and then Edward. I quickly turned back to Alice. The pain and loss on Edward's face was enough to make me sob like I did after watching the Titanic, and I don't cry easily.

"Why?"Edward demanded, looking haunted.

"You didn't answer my question."I informed him.

"You didn't answer mine." he retorted.

"But I asked first." I pointed out stubbornly.

He glared at me and I glared back."A girl you don't know." he finally allowed.

"Well, obviously, or I wouldn't be asking." I heard Emmett snort at my remark next to me. Edward shot him a look.

"I answered your question, now answer mine."Edward looked back at me. I gazed into his eyes and focused on not hyperventilating. It made me feel so... powerless. I barely knew him, but I liked him. Enough that it hurt that he cared so much for this Bella person.

"Yeah, I'm wondering why as well." Alice chimed in. I shot my friend a look of betrayal."What? I wanna know!" Alice said indignantly.

I looked around the crowded cafeteria. "Can we go outside?" Yeah, I would like to keep the part about me seeing wacky stuff like this quiet, you know? Just don't want anyone thinking I'm crazy, even though I most likely have been going off the deepend a little more than usual since the Cullens came.

Edward and Alice shared a look."Okay." Alice nodded. They stood up and followed me as I dumped my tray and walked out on the muddy school grounds. I sat down on a wooden picnic table, and they sat on the opposite side of it as me. Two pairs of butterscotch eyes stared at me. ...Butterscotch? Edward's were dark gold the last time...

"Er- Nice fog we're having, eh?"I ventured.

"Stop trying to stall Erika." Alice sighed.

"You'll think I'm crazy." I warned. Heck, _I _think I'm crazy.

"I actually doubt that."Edward replied, smiling a crooked smile that makes my breath get caught in my throat, but I managed to give a sardonic snort of laughter.

"Right."

"Erikaaaa!"Alice whined, giving me the puppy dog pout of the century.

"Fine." I said shortly. Might as well get this over with. "I don't know why, but when I was sitting there, I saw something that wasn't there. I mean it was, but it was like watching a video in front of my eyes. I'd never been there before in my life." I said in one breath. Instead of laughing, raising their eyebrows, or trying to put a straight-jacket on me like I expected, both of the Cullens were looking at me quietly, waiting for me to continue.

"I was in this forest, and there were these ginormous wolves and people running around, shouting. And there was this woman with red hair, and she was laughing as this girl with dark hair fell to the ground. And you-"I turned to Edward,"-shouted 'Bella'." I finished, looking at the two of them.

They had expressions of shock on their faces. "Um...hello? Earth to Alice and Edward... Alice and Edward do you read me?" I waved my hand in front of their faces. Edward closed his eyes.

Alice snapped out of it first."Were the people doing anything strange?" she asked anxiously.

I stared at her. Maybe _I _wasn't the crazy one at this moment."I don't know! I was sort of busy staring at the homicidal red haired woman cackling as she murdered someone!"

Alice breathed a quiet sigh of relief, which made no sense to me whatsoever.

Edward was staring at me intently, as if trying to decipher something."What?" I asked him,"Do you think I'm crazy?"

His eyes smoldered mine."I wish it were that simple." Even though his answer didn't make sense to me, it sent shivers up and down my spine.

He turned to Alice and started talking so fast that I only caught bits of it: past, Carlisle, home, Volturi. Nothing that made any sense at all.

"Excuse me."I interupted. They turned to look at me."I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that." I said sarcastically.

"Good."Alice grinned smugly.

I looked at both of them very hard."We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." I offered.

Edward laughed."And what, may I ask, is the hard way?"

"I'll never let you two hear the end of this until the very _end_ of graduation day, and then _continue_ to call you and demand answers. And I will seriously do that." I smiled sweetly."And we've got more than two years until then. And then _forever."_

Alice's smirk wavered."Uh... what's option two?"

"You will tell me what is going on, if not now, then soon."

"I'll take torment for eternity." she said, sounding like someone on Jeopardy.

"Aliiiice!"I whined, sounding just like her. "Come on! All this... stuff is happening to me! I have a right to know why!" She remained unsure, so I turned to Edward, as a last hope.

"Edward, please." I said simply, looking into his eyes.

* * *

**Edward's POV**

She had a vision.

I don't know how or why, but she did. About my Bella. She saw her die.

This information caused several thoughts to pop into my head at once. Why wasn't she running? Had she seen anything odd? Did she feel any pain to see that I had cared for someone so much? Oddly, very few of my thoughts were about Bella in this moment. They were on weather she would run or not, and she wasn't. She was staring at me with those green eyes, and asking for the truth.

"Edward, please." she asked softly, and I shivered slightly. I stared into her eyes, trying to see what she was thinking, but they were like two bottomless emerald oceans.

I sighed and touched my cold hand against her cheek. She didn't acknowledge it's iciness, but unasked questions made a slight crease on her forhead. The second I touched her, her heart sped up, and so did my unbeating one. "Fine." I said finally. Alice's head shot up and I felt her gaze on me, but I couldn't look away from Erika's eyes. "Fine." I repeated. "I'll answer your questions, but not here, or today."

"When?"she asked quietly.

"Soon." I replied. "Erika, would you like to meet our family? They could help, most likely." A part of me wanted her to say no, I was Bella's. Another wanted her to say no because it wasn't safe for her. But a stronger part of me ached for her to say yes.

"I would love to meet your family." Erika smiled lightly, and my spirits soared.

Alice looked from her to me, and then back again. A faint frown formed on her lips as she tried to decide whether she was happy, angry, or worried. Happy because I was beginning to realize that I liked Erika. Angry, because she knew what risk we were taking, bringing her. And worried that we were telling her.

"Good." I grinned. I bravely took a deep breath, and her scent scorched down my throat. I quickly withdrew my hand from her face. "I think." I said softly, standing up and walking away.

* * *

** I finished the chapter! sorry it took me so long, I was grounded. :( heh. so I hope you likes it! it was fun writing the Edward/Erika moments! it was cute! but anyway, my friend asked me at lunch yesterday what my story was about, and i was like 'Well, I killed off Bella in an attempt to make somewhat of a less damsel in distress sort of character and-' and that's when she started smacking me. and then i went to go see the twilight movie again(it is AWESOME), and i started feeling slightly guilty. and then i started listening to the sound track with my friend Nixie, and I almost started crying because i felt _immensely_guilty. But I'm over it now, no worries!Chapter seven will be up relatively soon! enjoy! **

**-Chloe**


	7. Chapter::7

**IT'S WHAT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! No, it's not the circus, zoo, or Christmas! It's...CHAPTER 7!!!! WOO-HOO! heh. sorry. slightly bored and hyper right now!....yeah. but so in this chapter, there shall be Cullens, questions, and quite possibly... ERIKA'S GIFT! MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA! And I have two reviews. But the these readers are given an ambulance with a Carlisle for free, PLUS a Volvo with a free Edward! get big, Big, BIG SAVINGS! INCREDIBLE DEAL! yeppers! so here is my reply:**

**sunshine'n'sarcasm**: **At first, I thought you wrote that you WERE sorry I killed off Bella and that I wouldn't be able to do much without her without it getting old. But then I reread it, and I was like oh! she meant WITH her and she WASN'T sorry, which made me feel better, and slightly stupid. heh. But thanks, I'd like a cake please, and I agree with you. Bella is a bit damsely, and she has to constantly be saved. again. and again. and again. So I made Erika practically Bella's opposite: she's feisty and spunky and speaks good old sarcasm! yea! I only felt bad about what I did to Edward. Temporary guilt. But don't worry, I'm over it.**

**princess07890****: No worries, I know you weren't being rude! It's just this whole S.E Hinton thing is getting me just as frustrated as my readers. But I'm happy that you thought the chapter was great!**

* * *

**Alice****'s POV**

I was going to shoot Edward. It wouldn't do much to him, but it would make me feel better. I mean, I was ecstatic that he was slowly realizing the mutual attraction he had with Erika. But he was threatening to reveal ourselves to the one person who had liked me for me since the first time she introduced herself, and I wasn't quite sure I could cope with that.

I stared at the back of his head intently during the drive home. He was grinning infuriatingly as he drove. Did he not understand that she might not look at us the same after all of this?

"Edward Mason Cullen." I pronounced every syllable of his name clearly and sharply. He turned to look at me."If you tell her about us I swear I will-" the car swam in front of my eyes as I slid into a vision. Edward, Erika, and I were swinging on the porch swing at our new home with Erika looking at Edward expectantly.

_"Erika."_ he was saying quietly. "_We're vampires."_ his pale fingers clasped her hand.

"_I know."_she unexpectedly grinned.

My vision cleared, and Edward was practically beaming like he had won the lottery. "- absolutely tell you that it's a brilliant idea!" I finished.

Emmett looked at me as though I was losing it. The vision had taken a grand total of two seconds, in which my facial expression went from furious to uncontrollably happy. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing. Just Alice being bipolar." Rosalie said dryly.

I stuck my tongue out at her. "I am not bipolar! I happened to have a vision." I added in a superior tone.

"About..."Emmett prompted me.

"We're going to tell Erika." I announced boldly. My siblings all turned to stare at me.

"_WHAT?"_Rosalie shrieked.

"Are you sure?" Jasper asked.

"Good, I like her." Emmett nodded like he had been expecting it.

"So we got lucky the first time with Bella!" Rosalie fumed. "You want to endanger us again?! We shouldn't let you two close to humans anymore, next you'll be announcing that we're vampires on Oprah!"

"I thought that you liked her." I said calmly, avoiding the point.

"Does that matter?!" Rosalie shouted.

"Well, a bit. I mean, it'd be worse if you hated her." I reasonably stated.

"URGH!" Rosalie threw open the door as we pulled into the driveway. "I can't believe you all! CARLISLE!" she shouted, running into the house.

I cocked my head to the side."She took that rather well." I smiled slightly.

Edward chuckled and Emmett rolled his eyes. "Come on Rose!" he called after her. "You get along with her, and Erika's a tough one. She'll handle it okay!"

"Yeah, I've seen it!" I chimed in. Edward parked in the garage and the four of us ran into the house. Rosalie was explaining everything to Carlisle at top speed. He was listening calmly and Esme smiled widely at Edward when we came in. I heard a bit of Rosalie's protest.

"Hey! I am not eccentric!" I stomped my foot, which ruined my point.

"What if she tells someone!" Rosalie argued. "Or becomes afraid? What'll happen then? Another move? Well I'm sick of moving!"

"She's not going to tell." I repeated with an impatient toss of my hair. "I've _seen_ it!"

"Your visions can change, Alice." reminded Jasper.

"This one won't!" I said stubbornly."It's extremely clear! Besides, her and Edward love each other!"

Many things happened at once:

"Not _again_!" Rosalie shouted.

"Oh, Edward!" Esme beamed.

"She loves me?" Edward asked, unbelieving.

"Eh, Tiger! Are you wooing all of the humans at school?" Emmett teased.

"Do you really love her, Son?" Carlisle asked.

"They do, I've sensed it before." Jasper confirmed.

"Everyone, QUIET!" I bellowed. It was so confusing when everyone talked at once. My family stopped and looked at me. "Yes, _again_! Yes she loves you, you idiot, it's rather obvious! No, he's not wooing everyone, only Erika! Yes he really loves her! And, WE'RE TELLING HER NO MATTER WHAT YOU ALL SAY!" I answered all of their questions, even though some of them were for Edward. I sat down very calmly and rested my head on my hand. "Now, any questions? Carlisle?"

"Uh, yes I have one."

"Shoot."

"Are you sure about this, Son?" he asked, looking at Edward.

"She deserves to know, Carlisle. She has a... gift that we need to explain to her, even though I don't understand it myself."

"And what would that gift be?"

"She somehow transports her thoughts to others temporarily, and she had a vision today. About Bella's death."

"But that's already happened." Emmett stated the obvious.

"That's what we don't get." I said pointedly.

Carlisle looked thoughtful."Is there any pattern that seems to cause this?"

"Um... I don't _think _so." I said, unsure. I ran back the past events in my head. "She couldn't transport them at all while Edward was gone..."

"I think I know why." Carlisle said slowly, still deep in thought. "Though I haven't seen a case like this in centuries. It's extremely rare."

"And that would be..." I suggested, trying to get him to answer the question that had been plaguing me since the first day of school.

"She's a reverser." he explained.

Only Edward seemed to get it. His eyes widened."Oh."

"Would you please kindly tell the rest of us what the heck that means?!" I said, exasperated.

Carlisle hastily answered me, since I looked mutinous. "She reverses the power of whomever she makes eye-contact with. For instance, when she looked into your eyes, Alice, she could see visions of the past, the opposite of what you do. When she looked into Edward's, she could transport thoughts, since he reads them."

Everything clicked. Why she couldn't send her thoughts after our glare down. Why she had the vision of Bella after we had a silent argument. "Oh..."

"So we're telling her this, why?" Rosalie interrupted my train of thoughts. I opened my mouth to give a snarky retort, but the room vanished and was replaced with a dark room, obviously a room of the Volturi. I shivered as I recognized the two men I was watching. Marcus was looking at Caius with a wicked smile.

_"It seems that young Edward is enchanted with another human."_

_ "Again?" _Caius snorted, sounding a lot like Rosalie.

"_Ah, but this one is different." _Aro smiled, sensing Edward and Erika's relationship, even from Volterra, Italy.

"_How so?" _Caius sounded politely uninterested.

_"It seems this young human is a reverser."_

Caius smiled, this information was juicy to be sure. _"Well that quite changes things."_

The vision faded and I saw Carlisle look at Rosalie sadly, and stated the thought that I had just concluded in horror. "Because the Volturi won't rest until they have that innocent girl becomes one of them."

"NO!" Edward shouted, looking furious.

"OVER MY ASHES!" I agreed in a snarl.

"Why her?" Emmett asked.

"Because of her ability. They haven't seen anything like it since Selena, and she is long dead. The potential this girl has is amazing, if she can already do so much as a human." Carlisle said, sounding resigned.

Rosalie scowled, trying to come up with another protest. Emmett and Jasper looked stunned, and Edward and I probably looked murderous. Esme's hand was over her mouth in a gasp of horror.

"And they already know she's here." I whispered softly. Edward flung open the door to the house and raced outside into the night. I hadn't realized that it had gotten so late. I stood up to get him, but Jasper stopped me.

"He needs time to think." he told me quietly.

I stood up and ran into my bedroom. So did I.

* * *

**Edward's POV**

I ran out of the house at top speed, furious at the Volturi, fate, and myself. If I hadn't been a vampire, she wouldn't be in this situation. I punched a nearby tree, making it crack in two and tumble down with a thud. I searched through the thoughts of the humans in town until I found her. She was sleeping innocently in a room that was decorated in blue and brown, and her dad was checking in on her. Without thinking, I ran to her house and climbed onto the donning underneath her window. She looked so peaceful, her golden hair flowing over her pillow. I could hear her faintly mummer, "Edward." with a small smile on her face. She talked in her sleep.

This one thing she had in common with Bella almost made me laugh out loud. I controlled myself and continued to watch her sleep. I eased the window open and climbed into her room, her scent thundering into me. I took short, quick breaths and sat down in a swivel chair after closing the window. She didn't toss in her sleep, like Bella did, but the sight of her relaxed me, and made me positive of my internal debate.

I was going to tell her the truth. She unbelievingly loved me too, even though she shouldn't. But was this love also doomed to failure? Or maybe, just maybe, the universe wassn't being cruel. Maybe it was being kind. Because, I had accepted it in that moment. I loved this girl, Erika.

And I would rip through hundreds of Volturi to keep her safe. Always.

* * *

**Yes, sort of mushy, I know! But I thought it was sweet! Anyway, I hope you all understand Erika's gift. If you don't, please review me, and I'll try to help. But this whole 'reverser' thing is sort of becoming my plot! hope no one hates it! if you do, TOO BAD!!! **

**-Chloe.**


	8. Chapter:8

**I AM ****SOOOOO**** HAPPY! I now have 29 reviews! you all rock! and you all get ****Volvos**** and Edwards! YES! So, I just thought you ****oughta**** know that before everyone reviewed, I was at eighteen reviews still, and very sad. and I was going to leave off this chapter with a cliff hanger, and not write anymore until I got 25 reviews! you all proved me wrong! ****yay****! so here are my answers to my 14 people:**

**raneonthewyndoepain: First of all, I would like to state that **! (implication of swearing) and Edward do NOT belong together in the same sentence! Secondly, I resent that you say that I take out the best and worst parts of twilight, because then there wouldn't be any characters left! DUH! And finally, while I am open to constructive criticism, what you wrote was not helpful in any shape or form and destroyed all connections made between writer and reader. It was rude, ill written (is rehash even a word?!), and was plain mean. Now that I've got all the politically correct crap out of the way: YOU SUCK! MEANIE! oh, and lastly, your penname is spelt wrong. rane= rain. there ya go. and wyndoepain= windowpane. kind of surprises me that you can actually read my fic.**

**JustYourAverageCrazyGirl: Thanks! Your love of this story is greatly appreciated!**

**JustYourAverageCrazyGirl: Hi again! Glad you're still liking it!**

**I'mStillHere: Heya! So, happy you like it. I like seeing Edward&OC stories too, Bella is sort of a weak character(no offense to Stephanie Meyers, cause I'm totally addicted to her..)**

**JustYourAverageCrazyGirl: I had fun writing that part! I was all 'CLIFFY! ha-ha!'**

**JustYourAverageCrazyGirl: I like you, you review lots! But I'm not telling whether I'll kill Erika or not....**

**Kanika Meskhenet : Thanks for loving it! (See! They like it raneonthewydoepain! HA!)**

**JustYourAverageCrazyGirl : Oh! Thanks!**

**JustYourAverageCrazyGirl : Nope, not over yet! That just shows up while I'm updating!**

**506thpir: No, her powers only work with vampires that have powers. For example, if she was to look into Rosalie's eyes, Erika would only get annoyed at the death glare she was being given and nothing more.**

**sunshine'n'sarcasm: Ah, let me see.. I'm thinking chocolate cake with vanilla icing! yums! I know what you mean, one of my friends was grounded, and his mom took away his hair gel....**

CrystalNightGoddess: I'm updating! I'm updating! I'm updating! heh. that was fun.

TheAddictedFanWriter: Glad you enjoyed it! In the future, I plan on her power being extremely useful. I even planned what she would do if she makes eye contact with members of the Volturi. I have no life. :D

**Well, thanks again for reviewing! It makes me happy! Peace! **

* * *

**Erika's ****POV**

On most Saturdays, I would wake up at eleven, watch TV., and then call some friends to hang out. But this wasn't a normal Saturday. Today I was meeting the Cullens. Well, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen, since I know the others from school.

But more importantly, I was going to get all of my questions answered at last. This thought made me super excited all morning long. I took a shower, brushed out my hair, and quickly got dressed. My clothing was casual: light blue jeans with a red camisole underneath a white unbuttoned blouse.

My little sister Hallie entered my room. Hallie was my complete opposite, since she looked like our mom. She had dark, almost black hair and large brown eyes. She was two years younger than me, fifteen." Your boyfriend is here." she announced.

"He's not my boyfriend." I blushed slightly, pulling on my converse.

"Well, he's cute." Hallie told me with a sly smile. My sister was way too much like me, personality-wise.

"He's picking me up with his sister." I told her, sticking out my tongue at her like when we were little.

She laughed at my expression. "So _that's_ the girl who's out there." I took a peek out of the window. Sure enough, Alice was leaning over Edward from the back and honking the horn with gusto.

"I'm coming!" I shouted, grabbing my bag and running out the door, calling to Hallie as I went," Don't forget to lock the door, we have co-cuts in the fridge, call mom at work if you need her, dad's in a meeting."

"I know, I know." she laughed, waving to me.

Alice was chuckling at me as I stumbled into the passenger seat. "Are you always late?"

"Yep." I told her, not bothered in the least. "I had to read my sister the riot act."

"I know, we heard." Alice laughed as Edward began driving.

I looked over at Edward, who looked like he was deep in thought. "What's up?" I asked him, nudging him with my shoulder.

He looked startled at my touch." Nothing." He smiled that crooked smile that made my heart beat faster.

"So, let me get this straight." I strategized. "You two are going to answer all of my questions, right?"

"Right." Edward nodded, sounding slightly anxious.

"Right!" chirped Alice, her tone excited.

"Good. That was easier than I thought." I grinned, half smirking.

"Well, what were you expecting?" Edward asked. He looked amused.

"Um, well, some shouting, taunting, bribing, the works." I told him with a smile.

"What? Do you think that we're mafia leaders or something?" Alice laughed, and it sounded like bells.

"Nah, you're more of the card shark type, Alice." I shook my head with a laugh. The two of us started cracking up and Edward shook his head. "Could you two _try _to act your age?" he teased.

"Ah, but where's the fun in that?" I asked him with a grin. I noticed the speedometer, which was raised at around 150. I cocked an eyebrow. "Do you always drive this fast, Speed Racer?" The scenery was whizzing by, and it was sort of exhilarating.

"We're here!" Alice announced, ignoring my question entirely. We pulled into the driveway of a huge Victorian style mansion. My mouth dropped open slightly. "It's...beautiful."

"Thanks." Alice said briskly, appearing at my door and dragging me out. She began pulling me through the large french doors and into the house. Edward followed silently.

She stopped at a large living room where a couple who couldn't have been older than twenty-five sat on a couch. I knew that Alice and Edward were adopted, but it surprised me how young their parents were and how much they resembled each other. They both had topaz eyes and their skin was very pale. Both of them were smiling warmly.

"Carlisle and Esme, this is Erika. Erika, these are our parents." Alice introduced.

"Hello." I said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"And you as well." Carlisle replied.

"Hello." Esme grinned. "It's nice to finally meet the girl these two have been talking about so often."

Alice beamed and Edward looked sheepish. He cleared his throat. "I think you had some questions."

"Yes." I nodded and Alice led me through the back door to a porch. We sat down on a swing.

"So...." Alice looked at me and then back at Edward.

"So..." I repeated.

"Er- nice fog we're having, eh?" Alice said, copying what I had said a few days earlier.

"Stop stalling, Alice." I retorted. "I know that you know what I want to know."

"Haven't you guessed?" Edward asked, an edge to his voice.

"I have some theories."

"And those would be?" he asked.

"I'm not going to say just yet." I informed him.

"Why?" Alice put in.

"Because you're supposed to answer my questions first." I said firmly.

Edward looked into my eyes and my breathing kicked up a notch. He intertwined his fingers with mine. "Erika, we're vampires." he said solemnly. Edward began searching my face for my reaction.

I smiled. "I know." I said simply.

"How?" Alice raised an eyebrow.

"I _saw_ it." I explained. "I've known for a while now. But this brings me to question two-"

"And this doesn't bother you." Edward interrupted. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Not really." I said in an offhand voice.

"It should. You have no idea how much danger you're in right now."

"I trust you two." I told him.

"You shouldn't. At least, not me. It's not safe." Edward sighed.

I ignored the fact that Alice was bouncing up and down happily."I feel safe right now." It was true. I always felt safe around him.

"You shouldn't." Edward repeated. "Your scent.. it's amazing, Erika. Especially to me. That's why I left. I can barely handle it. I was struggling not to kill everyone in the cafeteria on the first day."

Alice leaned in and took a whiff of me, ruining the serious moment. "She's not bad." she confirmed, like she was talking about the weather.

"Is it hard now?" I smiled apologetically.

"It's only a bit better than the first time." he said quietly. I realized that we had been subconsciously leaning toward each other while we talked. My heart rate sped up.

"I trust you." I repeated in a whisper. Our faces were inches apart. Alice was looking at us like she was watching a soap opera.

"I don't even trust myself." he murmured.

"You should." I gazed into his perfect eyes.

"You overestimate me."

"I doubt it." We both leaned in simutaneously, and our lips met.

It was complete and total bliss.

It felt like a part of myself I never knew existed had been re-attached. I wove my arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around my waist.

After a few moments, Alice cleared her throat and we broke apart regrettfully. "Not that I don't think this is sweet and all, but Carlisle wants to talk to you two in his office."

Edward and I looked at each other and we stood up. I was blushing slightly. He kept one arm around my waist, as if he was afraid I'd fade away. "Do you want to?"

"Of course." I nodded.

Alice beamed at us. "You two look like a Hallmark card."

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**AW! THAT WAS SO SWEET! i got really happy when I wrote this. THEY KISSED! yays! so, I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. by the way, check out my friend Nixie's fic Black Roses. Her full penname is: NixieEva1994 . REVIEW PLEASE! I WANNA KNOW IF YOU LIKE IT! **

**-Chloe**


	9. Chapter 9

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YEEEEES! UH-HUH! YOU DID IT! You all got to 36 reviews total! this made me sooooo happy! sorry I haven't updated in a while! the last week before Christmas is filled with exams. :( but no worries, i'm going to update right now! here are my replies:

**justcuz86****: aw, shucks! thanks! i tried to make her gift really mysterious. apparently, I did it well!**

**TwilightEclps****: thank you! i'm sorry about not updating lots!**

**Belle08****: thanks! Alice is the best! i totally agree! i hope i'm portraying her well.**

**princess07890****: he-he! you're welcome for the ride, but it's my turn next! lol! **

**princess07890****: yeps! i loved writing that part! well, you'll find out what Carlisle wants in a minute!**

**chilleliz****: hey! i know who you are! thanks, liz! i'm starting to worry bout my head, honestly! glad you like it!**

**NixieEva1994: Ah, another person I know apart from the cybotronic world! (wow, I sounded like a nerd...) i'm sorta scared about what idea i gave you.... now we have something to do with a soap opera, great. me and my stupid typing. jk! llys!**

**There you go! here's chapter nine! hope you all like it!**

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**Edward's POV**

As I walked her up to Carlisle's office, I held onto her gently. Her scent threatened to overpower me as it burnt down my nostrils and throat, but I firmly kept my arm around her. The smell was terrible, but I had a feeling that the pain of not having her next to me would be worse.

Part of me debated being thankful towards Alice, or slightly angry. My moment with Erika had been... wonderful. The gaping wound in my heart, my soul, had been sealed shut with one kiss. One amazing, beautiful kiss.

And then Alice stopped it. But, I suppose her ending it would be better than Carlisle walking out and noticing. Much better.

I marvelled at how Erika didn't draw away from my icy arm as I guided her up the stairs. Her body was at a much higher temperature than mine, judging by how heat radiated off of her. And she had said how she didn't like the cold. Period. But here she was, walking calmly despite my warnings of how dangerous I was.

We arrived at Carlisle's door, and I reluctantly let go of her. Carlisle opened the door, obviously going downstairs to get me and Erika. He was startled. "How-"

"Alice." Erika and I said at the same time. We both grinned at each other.

Carlisle smiled thinly. "Then I suppose that you've been told about us."

Erika nodded, and Carlisle thought, _Well, she's taking it well._

Out loud he said, "And I presume you have some unanswered questions." When she again nodded, he continued. "If the two of you would sit down, I could perhaps help with that."

We sat down next to each other in two leather chairs, and he cleared his throat. "My family and I are different from most of our kind, Erika. We prefer to live amongst humans , and we don't feed off of their blood. Instead, we sustain ourselve's with the blood of animals-"

"I don't mean to interrupt," Erika broke in politely,"But I've known all of this for a bit. I saw it, when Edward explained it to...Bella."

My grip on the arm rest of the chair tightened so much that little shavings of wood fell onto the carpet. My thoughts were swirling around in confusion. Was I hurting because I missed Bella? Or was it because Erika had to see how much Bella and I had together? What else had she seen? Us kissing? Was Erika hurting as well, but for a different reason than I was?

Carlisle grinned slightly. "Well that makes things much simpler."

Erika smiled lightly. "Mainly I'm wondering why I saw that, because I'm pretty sure it's already happened."

"You're correct, it has." Carlisle nodded, his eyes flickering to me for the shortest moment. "I'm going to put it in a way that is hopefully understandable. When a human changes into a vampire, they take a trait or gift with them through the transformation. The change in them also goes through the power, which strengthens it usually."

"Like how Alice sees the future and Edward reads minds?" Erika asked. I raised an eyebrow. I couldn't remember telling her directly that I could read minds.

"Exactly." Carlisle nodded. "I believe that in life, Alice had premonitions that developed into her visions. And that Edward was very aware of the thoughts of others. But what you have is very unique, I've only seen it once before. You have a strong gift that is powerful without the change. We have a name for you in Italian: _fare una telefonata a carico_. Which means 'reverser' or 'one who reverses'. In short, your power is to obtain the opposite of the power of whomever you make eye contact with."

Erika nodded in understanding, but looked slightly curious. "What happened to the other reverser?"

Carlisle sighed. "She was found by a nomad clan who wanted to overthrow the Volturi, and they tried to use her against them. But she didn't wish to participate in a battle of the immortals, so the young human girl ran away, pursued by both sides ferociously. They both wanted to use her as a weapon against the other ."

"And?"

"She was accidentally killed in a battle between them." Carlisle said sadly. "Which brings me to a very serious point: the Volturi know about you, and they'll stop at nothing to have you become one of their ranks."

I expected Erika to shiver or at least show some sign of fear, but whenever did she do what I expected? Instead, she looked determined and defiant. "So what do I do?"

"What will _we_do." Carlisle corrected with a smile. "We've gotten you into this, and we're going to help you through it. But the truth is, that I don't know what we'll do yet. But I suggest we work on developing your powers."

Erika nodded. "Okay." I stood up and she did the same. I opened the door for her and we walked down the stairs to the living room, where Alice was sitting expectantly on the couch. "And?" she asked.

"She's supposed to develop her powers." I sighed. "In preparation."

"Well then, let's start!" Alice announced.

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**Alice's POV**

"Stare into my eyes." I commanded Erika once she was sitting across from me.

"Yes, Madam Alice." Erika said sarcastically. "What does the spirit world tell of today?"

"Shut up." I rolled my eyes. "Now, try to see the past."

Erika focused. "Um..." her eyes glazed over and a moment later, she snapped out of it.

"What did you see?" I asked excitedly. Is that how everyone else felt when I saw something?

"I don't know... a girl with black hair and brown eyes playing with a younger girl with similar features." Erika looked at me quickly. "...It might have been you."

I kept my face calm, even though I was instantly curious. "I had a little sister..." I trailed off. "Let's do it again. Try to think of the last reverser. The past can sometimes influence the present."

Emmett suddenly walked in. "Hey, Alice, Erika, Edward... Why does Alice sound like the Ghost of Christmas past?"

"We're trying to control my gift." Erika explained, with a laugh.

"Let me try!" Emmett pushed me off of the couch.

"Hey!" I protested.

He ignored me and looked into Erika's eyes. "What can you do?"

Her face was dead serious. "I know your deepest and darkest secret."

Emmett's eyes widened as he tried to think of what his deepest and darkest secret was. "Really?"

Erika snickered. "No!" We both began to laugh.

"You technically don't have a power, Emmett, so it won't work." I reminded him.

"Oh. Right. I knew that."

"You did not." Erika and I said at the same time.

"I thought we were trying to prepare her." Edward interrupted.

"Right." Erika gazed into his eyes for a moment. _Alice? Can you hear me?_

I nodded with a grin. She was going to make it. This couldn't end like it did with Bella. We wouldn't let it. I hope.

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**Erika's POV**

"Again." Edward instructed me. We had been training for at least three hours. By now I could summon a vision for Alice in a specific time period at will, and discovered I could transfer emotions from person to person if I looked at Jasper. I was now working on transporting thoughts to multiple people at the same time. My new high score on the sent scale: two at once. And I was getting a head ache.

I frowned. _ANYBODY GETTING ANYTHING?! _I mentally shouted.

Edward and Alice both flinched, but Emmett looked at me expectantly. "Go ahead."

I sighed, and sat down on the floor. "I don't think I can do it."

Edward sat down beside me and brushed a stray curl behind my ear. "You've done very well for your first day."

I smiled slightly, and looked out the window. It was beginning to get dark. I jumped up. "Crap! My mom's going to kill me."

"I'll drive you." Edward sighed, standing up. He looked about as unhappy as I felt at the thought of me leaving.

I nodded and followed him into his car. We rode in silence for most of the ride, my hand clasped in his. When we pulled into my driveway and I got out, he turned to look at me through his rolled down window, his topaz eyes focused on mine. "Erika, I'm so very sorry I got you into this."

"I'm not." I replied. If I wasn't in this, I wouldn't be with him.

"I won't let them hurt you." he stroked my cheek with his thumb.

"I'm not planning on getting hurt."

"No one ever does." he kissed me lightly and quickly and then sped off.

I watched his car until it faded into the distance.

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**WALLAH! CHAPTER NINE! HOPE YOU LIKED IT! REVIEWS! PLEEEAAASE!**

**~Chloe~**


	10. Chapter:10

**Heya Peeps! wow, Christmas is already over! :( aw well, happy new year! I'm going to have to get used to this 09 thing, I'll have to erase too many headings at school... anyways, i am happy to report that I did NOT flunk my finals, I aced all of them :D! **

**Now this part is going to be different than most of the time. I was informed by a reviewer that I can answer reviews and questions separately, which I'll be doing from now on (thanks ****1412**** !!!) It'll make it much easier for me, and it'll take less time for me to write my chapters. Don't worry, you all still get Volvos and Edwards, I keep my deals! Oh. and thank you to everyone who reviewed! I know have 50! YEEEEEEES! Keep up the great job, and I hope you all continue to enjoy this! *begins dancing* I GOT REVIEEWS! I GOT A LOOOOOT! IT MAKES ME HAAAPPY!**

**Once again, sorry it took me so long to update, the holidays are nuts, and I'm going into a writer's block. If anyone has any ideas for how to bring in the Volturi, I'm open to suggestions. Until then, my chapter is going to be primarily about Edward/ Erika and character development. So review, or else i'll be stuck for a while. Oh, and I'd really like to know which POV you guys like me writing in the best, and if you think I circulate between them enough. Also, tell me if you'd like to see more of a specific person's POV. Thanks! **

**Here's chapter 10! **

**(by the way, I have now written over 14,356 words! I'm soooooo proud! and I that's not even counting this one! yays!)**

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**Edward's POV**

I was extremely anxious when we went back to school on Wednesday. Yes, Wednesday. Unfortunately for us, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were bright and beautiful. And sunny. Never before have I felt so trapped by sunlight. I couldn't see her, know if she was alright, make sure that she hadn't come to any harm in my absence. The only thought that helped me through it was that Erika was probably enjoying the good weather.

And I suppose she was in greater danger when I was _present_. That thought however, didn't make me feel better.

I was such a nervous wreck that Emmett and Jasper finally dragged me out hunting to distract me. In two hours they were fed up with me worrying there as well, and we came right back to our home. Even Alice became angry with me.

_"She's going to be fine Edward. Nothing is going to happen, I'm positive." _she had sighed.

I knew better than to doubt Alice, but I couldn't help it. _"Are you sure?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Positive?" _

_"Yes!"_

_"You saw it directly, right? You weren't assuming?"_

_"EDWARD!"_

But it was finally wet, foggy, and gloomy once more, and Carlisle had given the okay for school. I positioned myself in my car before everyone else was even downstairs, and drummed my fingers on the wheel impatiently.

Alice walked up to the passenger side and opened the door, but I stopped her. "Do you think that you could all ride in Rosalie's car today? She could drive."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well, if you have to know-" I began.

"I do." she interrupted.

"- then I was going to drive Erika to school today." I finished smoothly.

"Without me?" Alice whined. "Edward! She was my friend first!"

"So?" I failed to see the point.

"So I get dibs!" Alice shouted, stomping her foot and cracking the concrete.

"Dibs? On Erika?"

"Yeah! You know- I get to come too! And let's face it! Without me, you'd still be in denial about the fact that you like her! Like her, like her!" Alice fumed.

"And I thank you for that." I put in. "But I'd like to see her before school. Make sure that she's fine."

"I was worried too!"

"Not as much as I was and still am." I pointed out.

"You know what? Fine! But you so owe me! Big time!" Alice ranted, walking over to Rose's car and slamming the door so hard that I was pretty sure she had broken something. "And you better leave before the others come out and call you obsessed!" she called to me.

"Thanks Alice!" I grinned as I pulled out of the driveway.

I heard her grumble when I was about a hundred feet away, "Yeah, yeah. But this isn't permanent! I'm on protest!"

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I pulled into her driveway a few minutes later, I was surprised to see that she was waiting by the curb. I gave a silent sigh of relief. She didn't look hurt in any way." Edward?" she sounded curious.

"Erika. How did you know that I was coming?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't. Kira, Zoe, and I carpool together." she explained, "And why weren't you at school?" She asked suddenly.

I opened my mouth to answer when her friends drove up. "Erika? Wow you're early, that's a first- Oh, hey Edward." Kira looked from me to Erika from the rolled down window.

"Hey guys, I'm going to ride with Edward today." Erika announced.

"Wait, what?" Zoe asked, pushing her head through Kira's window.

"I'm riding with Edward today." Erika said slowly.

"So we drove three miles out of the way for nothing?" Kira protested.

"Well, it's the thought that counts." Erika grinned as she got into my car.

"Fine!" Kira said, sounding just like Alice. "But next time, call us before you choose to break a tradition that was created so that we can lessen pollution!"

"See you in class!" Erika called as she shut the door.

"It's because it's blue, isn't it?!" Kira shouted as we drove away. I could hear Zoe laughing from the backseat.

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**Alice****'s POV**

After hearing Rosalie grumble about the state of Edward's sanity for fifteen minutes, we finally arrived at Ashwood High. Even though we had just pulled up, it was perfectly clear that every single member of the student body knew that Edward and Erika were a couple. It was the gossip of today, and besides, there weren't many secrets in a town this small. By the time lunch came, even the staff knew.

I sat down next to Erika at lunch, and she immediately turned to face me. _Where were you guys?_

I avoided eye contact so that she could still communicate telepathically. _Was it the weather? A vampire thing?_ she questioned.

I nodded slightly and her eyes widened. _Do you blow up if you get touched by sunlight?!_

"That's really unoriginal." I rolled my eyes, completely forgetting that our conversation had been silent up to this point. "And totally a myth."

"What is?" Zoe asked, looking up.

"That, um, lightening never strikes in the same place twice!" I lied quickly, shooting a glance at Erika, who was fighting to keep a straight face.

"Yep. Totally a myth." she confirmed.

Edward sat down across from her, and I noticed Sam frowning angrily. I never paid much attention to him, mainly because of the chaos that is my after-life, but he didn't seem like the type who got frustrated without a reason. He was quiet and kind of shy. I raised an eyebrow at Erika and she looked at him, almost rolling her eyes, but her face was sympathetic.

_Um..... _she thought at me, sounding sort of embarrassed and awkward. _Well... we um... used to date... last year... only once.... we're just friends... kinda.... I think he still likes me... now he hates Edward.... urgh..._

"WHAT?!" I seem to have an issue with keeping silent conversations _silent._ The whole table looked at me, bewildered at my outburst. "I have a history test next period, completely forgot." I fibbed. I turned to Erika and hissed in her ear, "And you never told me?!"

_You never asked! Great. Now I have school problems too! And they're not even class related!_

"Well," I whispered, "Welcome to High school drama." And that's when it hit me that Edward was glaring at Sam like he was the person who started global warming. I hadn't thought that while he couldn't hear Erika, he could still hear my thoughts. _"Is nothing private anymore?!" _I mentally shouted. I kicked his shin underneath the table, and he didn't even look up. "_Edward! You are going to begin behaving or I'll-"_Reality zoomed away and was replaced by a solitary figure standing on a hill. She- I'm guessing it was a girl- was in an ash gray cloak, staring down at a cluster of buildings. Ashwood High.

I found myself staring anxiously at Edward, who was now ignoring Sam and looking at my vision. "When?" he asked in a strangled voice, talking too fast and too low for the humans to hear.

"They've got us surrounded right now." I whispered.

"How many?"

"About four for talk, probably to see if they can get her without a fight. And then they've got the whole gaurd in the area."

"They won't attack around humans." he said fervently, trying to convince himself.

"No, they'll wait for us to leave school, which gives us two hours to plan. We'll need to get to our house without them taking her. And then we'll just have to try to convince them to leave her." I planned, even though I knew that it was doomed.

"They'll never do that. And we're outnumbered. She's not ready! How are they here so soon?" Edward demanded.

"No idea. They must have kept changing course to confuse me." I groaned.

"What four are on the talking group?"

"Caius, Aro, Marcus, and Jane."

"Well that sounds like a really peaceful group." he said dryly.

"How do we tell Erika?" I massaged my temple.

"I'll do it." Edward sighed. "And then we need to all talk. Every one of us. That means skipping next period. Meet us in the library, and bring Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper."

I nodded. "Edward?" I asked softly, looking at the obvious pain on his face. "We'll keep her safe. And she can protect herself. It'll be different."

He remained silent but gave a curt nod. "Erika? Can I talk to you outside?"

"Yeah, sure." She stood up and the walked out of the double doors, oblivious to the fact that most of us were doomed to die.

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**Wow. I ended that on a violent note! so yeah, I am now putting the Volturi into the picture! i guess i sort of figured out how, once I thought about it. Please review! I need to know if I'm screwing this up or not!!! REVIEW! YOU KNOW YOU WANNA!**

**~Chloe~**


	11. Chapter 11

...Hi...** Before any of you try to assassinate me, you should know that this wasn't my fault. Despit rumors of alien abduction, imprisonment, and food poisoning from really bad tacos, the true answer is elementary my dear readers. Grounded. I was blocked and all of my books were taken away. If it weren't for my friend's and mine's roleplays and the school library, I'd be dead or hyperventilating in a corner right now. So, if you think you've had the bad side of this, you haven't. But on the good side, I've pretty much designed an ending. I shan't be telling you now of course. So, here's the newest chapter, hope it's worth the wait. No pressure on me, right? Considering I haven't gone on in months.**

**Erika: "So, you left off in a cliff hanger and stopped writing for almost half a year."**

**Me: "Uh...yeah..."**

**Erika: "Leaving me trapped in a school surrounded by the Volturi."**

**Me: "...Preetty much."**

**Erika: *pulls out tazer***

**Me: "It wasn't my fault! I created you! NOOOOO!"**

**I'm currently getting tazed by my subconcious. So, here it goes.  
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**Edward's POV**

I walked with her into the hallway and into a deserted classroom, holding her hand. I closed the door and took a dep breath. "They're here."

"Huh?" she cocked her head slightly.

"The Volturi. They... eluded Alice. They're arround the school right now." I sighed, looking away from her.

She inhaled sharply, but spoke in a relatively calm voice. "How many?"

"Let's go with they outnumber us by a lot." I looked up at her and was surprised to have her lips brush against mine softly.

"I know what you're thinking." she stated calmly, pulling away.

"What? I thought that was my thing." I replied.

Erika rolled her eyes. "You're thinking that you're going to go through the same thing you did with Bella." I flinched slightly at her name. "Well, you're not." she continued firmly.

"We're not ready." I muttered. She was right. That was what I'd been thinking. Her gift wasn't yet mastered. We didn't have large numbers and the Voturi did. Everything pointed to what she'd just said.

"Maybe not. But we've got me: A p.o.'d teenage girl reverser who's determined to kick butt, trained or not." she replied. "Now what are we going to do?"

I sighed, admiring her confidnce slightly. "We're having a meeting in the library."

"Good." she grabbed my hand and walked rsolutely to the library.  
**Alice's POV**

What does one do when your best friend is being hunted by physcopath vampires who surround your school at that very moment? Why, you hold a strategic war meeting in the library of course. We all had assembled there, sitting at one of the circuar tables. Technically we were cutting, but none of the librarians stopped us. It was probably because Edward looked like a little soap opera bound in one person. Well, so was I for that matter.

"So.... What's your 'master plan'?" Emmett asked in his 'war general voice'. And yeah, it is as dorky as it sounds.

"Er... We don't have one. That sort _of _is the point of the meeting." Erika pointed out.

"Okay, well here's mine: Edward, you'll run Erika across the Mexican border while the rest of us hold them off. Then you two will fly to Porta Rico illegally via cargo ship so you don't attract attention or need any passports and then-"

Jasper thankfully cut him off. "How about a plan that actually works?"

"And doesn't get us all killed and Edward and Erika arrested." I chimed in.

"Well, actually, if we all got killed, they'd be dead too." Emmett said matter of factly.

"Emmett..." Edward glared at him.

"Well you would- Okay, okay! No Porta Rico!" Emmett held up his hands in surrender.

We were all silent, looking rather dismal. Rosalie spoke for the first time since we had entered the library. She had grabbed a nail filer and was examining her nails. "Oh, honestly. So you're not going to even try to come up with something?"

We all stared at her in surprise. She was attempting to help sort of, in her own way.

"Rose... are you trying to be e_ncouraging?"_ Jasper blinked.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah. I mean, I am not being a member of the 'Edward Cullen pity party' again if she gets taken. Plus, it's not like I entirely hate her."

Erika smiled slightly before her yes lit up. "I have it." She sent the thought into my head, as well as Edward's.

"No." He said automatically.

"It could work..." I said slowly.

"No." he repeated. "It's too risky."

She turned to face him. "Do we have any thing else?"

We all shook our heads, except for Emmett, who muttered, "Porta Rico."

She ignored him and continued. "Exactly. It may work. It's that or nothing."

Edward sighed. "Fine. But I don't like it." He stood with me and Erika.

"Where are you going?" Jasper asked, looking confused.

"The 'master plan' awaits." I said dryly as we exited the library without giving them an explanation.

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**Erika's POV**

"Hi, Ms. Davidson. I'm sorry for interrupting, but Zoe and Kira are needed in the principal's office." Alice said sweetly from inside the classroom. Edward and I were in the hallway, waiting for them, but I could imagine Alice smiling innocently.

"Why of course, dear. Zoe, Kira." Ms. Davidson replied, her beam apparent in her voice. It was amazing how little that beam appeared in her face, much less than being obvious from outside of the room. And now she sounded like her very excistence was based upon rainbows and puppies. Alice was good. The three girls exited the room and shut the door, turning to face us.

"Um... hi, Erika. We're not going to the principal's, are we?" Kira asked, probably because of the look on my face: somewhere between determined and mischvious, a mixture I like to call diabolical.

"Nope." I smiled widely. "We're going to the auditorium."

"Why...?" Zoe asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Who cares? We're out of chemistry, aren't we?" Kira said brightly.

"That we are." Zoe grinned.

I rolled my eyes slightly and led them to the auditorium, followed by Alice and Edward. They sat down in the chairs while Edward, Alice, and I faced them while sitting on the stage.

"So... why are we in the auditorium?" Kira prompted me.

I bit my lip. "There's no easy way of saying this, so I'm going to just throw it out there. Edward, Alice, and the other Cullens are vampires. And I'm being tracked down by a nightmarish group of other vampires who surround the school as we speak." I finished quickly, keeping it short and simple.

My friends stared at me for a moment.

"Okay..." Zoe stared at me. "Erika, you know you're supposed to just say no."

"Huh?" I blinked. "To the Volturi? That wouldn't work."

"I meant you're supposed to say no to drugs."

"I am not on drugs!"

"Good, but do you know how crazy you sound?"

"Well, yeah, but..." I trailed off. "Alice?" She was gone in a blur, and reapeared seconds later on top of the balcony rail.

The two gaped at her. Kira's eyes widened. "She'll fall!"

Alice smiled slightly. "Not unless I want to." she flipped neatly off the rail and landed on her feet on the main floor.

"Okay, you aren't crazy." Zoe reaffirmed. "I am."

Kira looked back at me. "How long have you known?"

"Only for a couple of days." I replied.

"And... wow." Kira muttered.

Zoe looked at me as well. "And these these others-"

"The Volturi." Edward nodded.

"-Are after you?" she finished. I nodded grimly.

"What did you do?" Kira asked curiously.

"It's not what I did do, it's what I can do." I shot a thought into their heads. _I've got a gift they want. Enough to kill to get it. _

Kira and Zoe jumped, startled to hear my voice in their heads. "You can read minds?" Zoe looked slightly awed.

"No, that's what Edward does." I repled simply.

"This is like a X-men/Van Helsing cross over!" Kira grinned slightly.

"I want to help." Zoe said automatically. Kira nodded.

I smiled, relieved. I didn't think they would freak out too much. They were too eager for adventure. "That's why we told you. We've got a plan to get me out and to the Cullens' house. There we can plan our next move with Carlisle."

"What's the plan?" Zoe asked, and I could tell she was already determined as well. I quickly told them.

"I like it." Zoe grinned confidently and Kira nodded.

"I don't know..." Edward frowned. "We're basing most of this on what the Volturi don't know and a honda civic hybrid."

"Hey. It's a _blue _honda civic hybrid." Kira corrected firmly. That was a huge difference.

* * *

**Edward's POV**

I Looked up at the clock. It was a couple of minutes before the bell was about to ring. I stood up. "We need to go now if we're doing this."

"Oh, we're doing this." Erika said briskly, standing up as well and grabbing her school bag.

"Erika, I-" I faltered, thinking of Bella's broken body in the forest.

She looked up at me. "Don't worry. It'll be different this time. I don't plan on dying."

"No one ever does.' I muttered.

"I'm going to be fine Edward." she sounded so confident, so ready. And yet I was the nearly indestructable one, and I was the one worrying. She projected an image of her kissing my cheek into my mind.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"Well, I can't kiss you without getting more of your scent on me." Erika answered matter of factly. "So, that's my good bye."

I nodded slightly, silent as she walked out of the doors with Kira and the bell rang. Zoe, Alice and I walked out as well after them, but they headed for Kira's _blue_ honda civic hybrid and we went to my Volvo. We sat down and I revved up the car as Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper got into Rose's car. We drove off to the north, away from our house, as Kira drove toward it. I prayed silently that the Volturi would follow us and not them.

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**Yeah, so this chapter was kinda a filler. You can expect more violence in the next one, which should be up soon, seeing as I'll proably write a lot of it tonight and tomorrow. If this wasn't worth is, sorry. The next one will be. And I needed this on for the next one. SO THERE.**

Review (nicely!) dear readers!

~Chloe Knightshade. Back at last.


	12. Chapter 12

**Lookiee! i bring you more story! please don't hurt me! like promised, this chapter should have more violence. Well, that or it'll lead up to violence in chapter 13. either way, be appeased! sooooo yep! i got a chance to reply to your reviews and the newest ones I've gotten were really good, so I'm hoping I was missed! And I was informed that it was sunshine&sarcasm's birthday yesterday when I updated! So come on everybody! Let's have a nice cyber sing along for her: *ahem* /HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOOOOOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SUNSHINE&SARCASMMMMMMMM! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOOOOO YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUU! *JAZZ HANDS* well, happy late birthday! to everybody: thanks for the reviews and I'm glad you still like it! and guess what! my subconscious isn't being tazed anymore! and... I found my books.... thank you my sister! anyway, now you can read chp. 12, unless you're one of the people who skip my author's notes! :D. happy days

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**Alice's POV  
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"Edward, don't look so tense." I instructed. Haha. Now that was a joke. I was the one anxiously tapping my foot at rapid pace against the floor of the car. But at least I had a big ole fake smile plastered on my face. Oh look. I'd formed a hole in the interior. I covered it with my sweater cassually.

"One: stop destroying my car." Edward said without turning around. "Two: I can't help it, I'm tense."

Zoe's eyes trailed to the side outside of the car. "They're following." she muttered. I turned and spotted a cloak whip through the trees.

Edward gave a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. Zoe, they're probably going to make us get out of the car. When they realize that you're not Erika, we'll attack, and you need to run toward civilization. Preferrably anywhere but your home, and a place that has a lot of people. They should be too busy with us and trying to find the actual Erika to come after you."

"Got it." Zoe nodded. Edward slammed his foot on the gas, as if he had just realized the Volturi after them. We were pretty far out of town now, and I could hear the Volturi emerge from the tree and chase after us. A loud thud sounded from the ceiling of the car.

"If we make it through this, I deserve a new Volvo." Edward muttered.

"Can I have this one, then?" Zoe asked. "I don't care about the hole or the ginormous person shaped dent."

Edward smiled slightly. "Sure. Ready?" The car suddenly flipped over onto it's back.

We both nodded and we sprung out of the car's doors and rolled onto the grass. Rose, Jaz, and Emmett were beside us in a minute. We put Zoe behind us, and faced the trees. The Volturi Guaed walked out of them, led by Aro, Caius, and Marcus. Their reinforcements who were not importantant enough to be considered the guard remained in the trees. Jane and Alec stood in front of the others, but slightly behind their leaders. Infuiatingly, Jane was wearing a wicked smirk that I wanted to rip off and cremate.

"Why, the Cullens. What a surprise." Aro grinned with penatrating eyes. His tone was his usual eerily cheerfull voice that secretly gave me the heebies.

"It amazes me how you can call stalking someone a surprise with a relatively straight face." I retorted with a glare.

He ignored me, taking a step closer to us. Emmett hissed threateningly. "And so this is our little human reverser. How charming. Erika, I think it is?" he adressed Zoe, who appropiatly looked defiant, just like Erika would.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Marcus stated, sounding slightly bored. "The bond this human shares with him-" he nodded at Edward. "-isn't as strong as it should be."

Aro raised an eyebrow at Edward. "Oh, I see." he said quietly. "How amusing. You think you managed to smuggle her out, didn't you? Jane, come here." he ordered. She walked forward in graceful strides and stood by him, waiting eagerly for instructions. "Make them talk."

Jane grinned and stared at Edward, who immediatly doubled over in pain, wincing and inhaling sharply and her grin widened. Emmett launched himself at her, but Alec his wiped his senses, and he laid motionless on the ground. I flung myslef at Alec, who was suddenly blocked by Felix, whom I smashed into, which made a large cracking noise. I menatlly cursed myself and began anticipating their next move. Luckily, my flying hurtle distracted Alec enough for Emmett to break free and begin fighting Felix. I looked around quickly and took in that Rosalie was fighting Heidi, the two beauties in a full on death match as they slammed into each other, their fangs bared. Jaz was fighting Corin and Santiago at the same time, dealing quick and painful blows to the two. Thankfully, Zoe had seen that there was nothing more she could do and left like Edward had instructed. Edward himself was still being assulted by Jane and was gritting his teeth in agony.

"That's enough for now." Aro said to Jane, who stopped immediately. He walked over to Edward, who shakily had gotten onto his feet. "Why don't you just tell us where she is?" he said softly and persuasively. "We don't want to hurt her. We just want to make her a proposition."

I sprinted forward and _saw_ Chelsea leaping at my back and spun around to see her sprining up. I caught her arm in midair and hurled her to the ground, hard. She flipped over and attempted a kick at my face that I already knew about and had ducked accordingly for. She screeched at me in fury and I snarled thrateningly, baring my fangs. She rolled back onto her feet and her attack continued.

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**Edward's POV**

The pain surged up and down my body, threatening to consume me. It felt as though I was slowly being seared to death in flames. I tried telling myself that it was all in my head, I was physically fine. But my brain told me that I was in terrible pain. I hate my brain at the moment.

I gave up on physcology and pictured her face in my mind. She was why we were doing this, why it was worth it. She was what made me feel whole again, even if part of me still ached for Bella. Erika. The horror of her ending up like Bella made the pain subside slightly. Suddenly it stopped completely and I regained conciousness of what was going on around me. Just in time to see Jasper rip Santiago's arm off. _Lovely,_ I thought hazily. I shakily stood up.

Aro walked toward me and leaned over. "Why don't you just tell us where she is?" he said quietly. "We don't want to hurt her. We just want to make her a proposition."

I turned to look up at him, glaring. "You won't even give her a choice."

"Why of course we will. But it'll be one where joining us is the best option." Caius snorted. "It'd be practically the only choice."

I shook my head. "No." I said through clenched teeth.

Aro hissed. "I tire of this. Demetri!" He walked up to Aro. "Her scent should still be on him, should it not?"

Demetri nodded and smelt the air, "I have her." he said after a bit. "She smells like citrus, am I not mistaken? It's quite delectable. I bet she's delicous." I snarled at him angrily and tried to move, but was hit with another attack by Jane, but this time it wasn't as hard.

"Demetri, find her and bring her to the Cullen's home. We should at least give some effort to handle this nonviolently." Aro ordered. Demetri nodded and raced to the north, sniffing.

Caius grumbled slightly at the prospect of talking and not slaughtering us and being done with it. "The rest of you subdue the others and meet us their with them. And I suppose you should try not to kill them."

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**Erika's POV**

Note to self: next time I find myself in my school surrounded by vampires who want to capture me and I need a plan out, I should definately go for the blue ford civic honda. Normally and surprisingly, Kira was very concious when she drove. Check the mirrors, hands at ten and two, below the speed limit, all of that jazz. I had no idea that this car could even remember how to go above forty. But here I was, sitting shotgun next to Kira as she gunned it down the backroads to the Cullens. All she needed was a helmet with a visor and a couple of stickers and she could make Nascar look like ten year olds in bumper cars.

"If we get pulled over by the police, it'll suck." she muttered as she miraculously dodged a cat at this speed.

"Oh, really?" I said dryly. Maybe they could taze the Volturi for us while they're questioning us. "Little boy with a tricycle!" I shouted as a toddler pedelled across the street right in front of us. Kria swerved, narrowly missing him.

"This is just like that racing game at the arcade!" she said with enthusiasm.

"Glad you're having fun." I rolled my eyes. Something streaked past my window and suddenly a man was positioned right in front us, a couple of feet ahead.

"Crap!" I cursed.

"Do I hit him?"

"I don't think it'd make a difference!"

"Would he die?"

"No!"

"Well, crap!"

"You think?!"

"DIE!" Kira shouted, smashing into the vampire. The car jolted backward, and the man blinked, not even scratched. He didn't move for a moment, and neither did we. And in the silence, you could hear the clatter of the grate as it fell off. Kira's eyes narrowed angrily. She opened the door and stormed out, so p.o.'d that she'd apparently forgotten that she was marching up to a vampire who could disember her. "Do you know what you just did?" she snapped.

The man looked taken aback. "You just completely wrecked the front of my car!" she continued with a glare. "Do you even _know_ what I had to do to get this car?! No, of course not! I would bet a million dollars that you've never been a waitress for a place called Harold's Casserole Cranny! They don't even serve casserole there!"

The vampire stared at her. "What?"

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**I interupt this story for a brief announcement. I don't know why I'm telling you this, but I think that it**'**s hillarious. okay, well, I'm at my aunts, and my sister and I are sharing a bedroom, and she's talking in her sleep, it's hilarious! at first, she sat up and took her book she was reading earlier into her hands and was flipping through it and muttered, 'good, they didn't steal any pages' and i was like, 'are you awake?' and she turned to face me and went, 'i'm going to go back to pretending to be asleep so that they don't wake up.' and i asked 'who?' and she said 'they're after the pages.'**

**and then she flopped down on her pillow and was asleep again. a few minutes later she woke up and said, 'i don't know why they're crying,' and i blinked and said. 'um.. hallie... there's no one crying.' and she sighed and said, 'i know, i was just being sarcastic.' and i patted her shoulder and said, 'i know. you just go back to sleep' and she glared at me and snapped 'i was not asleep! i was just pretending to be asleep so they wouldn't wake up and come steal the pages!'**

**And that's when I started laughing my head off. And she got really angry and hissed, 'I was NOT asleep! i was pretending! They're after the PAGES!' Then she tried to punch me in the face. She missed and collapsed into her pillow, crying. And seconds later, she was snoring once more. A couple of seconds ago she sat up and said, 'Chloe, turn around.' which is dumb, seeing as directly behind me is a wall. 'Why?' I asked. 'Oh, nevermind!' she snapped 'I was trying to tell you that she grabbed the pa- Oh I give up! One of the others can take care of it!' and now she's muttering and scratching her kneck, i asked if she had a bugbite and she replied: 'Yes, No. THEY gave it to me. Shut up!' And that's what's going on right now. Back to Kira screaming at Demetri.**

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"You heard me, bud!" Kira glared. "And you're just going to sit there looking stupid while I contemplate how I'm going to pay off for what your little invincible self has done to my car!"

"It's... just a car." the vampire said, confused.

Kira walked right up in front of him and looked up at him angrily. "It's. Not. Just. A. Car. It. Is. A. _BLUE HONDA CIVIC HYBRID!"_

I jumped out of the car and pulled Kira backward by her jacket's hood. "Um... Kira... Let's not shout at the guy who can suck us dry."

"But he broke my car!" Kira whined.

"Technically, you hit him."

"But it wasn't like _I_ broke my car on purpose! I was _trying_ to squash him flat!"

"Who in the world are you?" the man asked her.

"That's classified. Who're you?"

"Uh, Demetri... Why is that classified?"

"You could be a perverted undead stalker." Kira said seriously, still mad.

Demetri actually laughed. "Actually, I'm a tracker."

"Let me guess. You track innocent cars to smash up." Kira said dryly.

"No, I was tracking her." he pointed at me.

"So there was no point in smashing up my car?!" Kira demanded.

Demetri stared at her. "You do understand that I'm a member of the Volturi gaurd who is the best tracker in the world and that I could disember you in less than a second."

"Oh, so not only do you total cars, you're full of yourself too!" Kira snorted.

He stared at her incredulously. "I'd love to stay to hear you insult me, but I need Miss Erika here."

I glared at him defiantly. "What? So you expect me to go with you peacefully?"

Demetri sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Why couldn't I have stayed to capture the ruthless five vampires instead?" he muttered. Then he looked up. "No. You'll go peacefully because if you don't come to the Cullen's house with me, I'll drag you there, or Caius may become bored and decide to kill someone. Good enough resons?"

I glared at him and nodded curtly, trapped.

"We were going there anyway." Kira snapped. "So what're you going to do? Drive us in my 'just a car'?"

"No." he grinned, grabbing me by the waist. "You're staying here, and I'm running. It has been a pleasure, Miss."

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Before I had time to struggle in his iron grip, we were at the Cullens and standing in their living room. The Cullens were all sitting on the couch, a line of guards behind them. Edward looked murderous, as well as Alice. He looked up as Demetri and I entered, and his faced softened slightly before he looked worried and angry again. "Would you mind?" I asked Demetri dryly. He sat me down and found myself facing three men who I immediately recognized as Aro, Caius, and Marcus from some of my visions of them.

"Is she the real one this time?" Aro asked Demetri, who nodded. "Well, well. You're here at last. Oh, I can see why you chose her Edward, she is quite pretty. And such beautiful eyes. Shame they'll be a diferent color soon." he smirked. Edward snarled at him and Alice hissed.

"I like my eyes the way they are, thanks." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Why, Edward! I'm almost surprised! This girl's not a bit like the other one, is she. Bella seemed so timid when we met." Aro grinned.

"The fact that you approve of me sends joy rushing through my heart." I said dryly.

He laughed. "I want proof that she is the reverser." he commanded.

"Why should I give it to you?" I demanded.

"Because I'll have one of your friends little throats ripped apart and burnt." Caius interjected.

I turned my glare toward him and sighed, I glanced a t Edward's eyes. _Are you happy now? _I thought at Aro.

"Exceedingly. My dear, we have a proposition to offer you."

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**Woo-hoo! a little more violence in this one, but there should be more in chapter 13. but this chapter is one of the longest I've ever written in this story! YAY! Please review! You know ya wanna! OH! And I'd like to point out that I'm thinking of making two people in this chapter a couple! which of you can guess it!? and if you do guess it, please tell me if you think it would be a good idea. I think it'd be kinda cute, but I'm not sure. OH! And this chapter is like 3,000 words! teehee! this may be sad, but i'm proud! REVIEW!**

~Chloe Knightshade~


	13. Author's note I want YOU to review!

**HEY! YOU THERE! Yeah, you! I know what you're thinking, I'm wasting you're time with this (if you're not thinking this, thank you.) But I'm not! I was reading my story stat page, which is hard for me to do, since numbers confuse me, and I noticed that I've gotten 5,000 somethings people reading my story, and only 75 reviews. I is dissapointed. i want all of you to review chapter 12, and i want AT LEAST 85 (i have seventy five total reviews right now) before I write chapter 13. ten reviews, how easy is that? REALLY EASY! PWEEEEAAAASE! ***makes puppy dog face*** don't leave me hanging!**

~Chloe Knightshade~


	14. Chapter 13

**Why hello there. Remember me? The abusive, rarely posting author who goes through so much to just upload? ****  
****We-ll....** **hiya. How're you? (****please**** don't hurt me). I, erm, thought that you should know that as I type this, um... /stammer-filled/ authors note, that I feel so. very. GUILTY! I apologize to you all, please accept my apology and take this offering of a new chappie, and hopefully, it's contents won't make you angrier than you might be. ((Actually, no. That's the NEXT chapter's job.)) OH, I have the idea for a teen titans fic that will be much more depressing over all then this... TEEN TITANS ROCKS! But, anywho, here's chapter 13, which is the fourteenth number, because I wasted your time with an authors note on my last post. BUT I has 94 reviews! YAYS! .... *assumes crazy joker face* and here. we. go.**

** Erika's POV******

"Let me guess, you want me to apply for an internship." I narrowed my eyes at Aro, who continued to look infuriatingly amused.

He pretended he hadn't heard me, which just got me angrier. By now, I wouldn't be surprised if the nerve above my eye was twitching violently. "We offer you all you could expect to ever achieve. Immortality, a chance to learn how to control your gift, the highest position in our personal guard," Jane glared at me in a very unsubtle way, "the opportunity to use your gift purposefully-"

I cut him off with a casual tone, as if I were continuing his list. "An opportunity to mercilessly kill people in your conquest to rule over the immortal world..."

Marcus sighed from the couch next to Caius. "This tires me. Can't we just take her and leave? We don't need actually consent, do we?"

I raised my hand. "I'd like it if you needed consent." I said cheerfully, rather proud I sounded absolutely as unterrified as possible, considering the fact my heart was pounding.

I glanced at the Cullens to see how they were doing. Alice looked like she was struggling not to laugh at my unflinching sardonic tone, but at the same time looked concerned and angry, as did Emmett. Rosalie was having a glare off with Heidi, which made me think fleetingly about the movie Mean Girls. (Ah, ADD: enhancing you with the ability to spurge random thoughts in the midst of vampires speaking of ending your mortality and arguing how to kidnap you in order to do it.) Esme looked worried and angry, like a mother bear protecting her cubs. Carlisle wore an unreadable expression, as if trying to prevent anyone from realizing something from his facial features. Jasper appeared quizzical and attentive, like he was analyzing every move the Volturi made in order to use it against them.

And then there was Edward.

He resembled many things that I didn't want to admit at the moment. Angry, at the Volturi. Bewildered, about my sarcasm that quite thankfully hadn't yet failed me. And worst of all, frightened. Frightened that I would die, or be taken away.

"You don't really think you have much of a say in this, do you?" Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no, not really. But I figure it'd help if I threw in some thoughts for your consideration. Like the fact I don't want to go." I smiled with fake sweetness.

"You try our patience." Caius growled threateningly, revealing his fangs in a snarl.

Miracle upon miracles, I managed a grim smile. "Mission accomplished then."

"I admire your spirit, but you need to be broken. Jane? Let's see how she fares against you." Aro smiled as if he had suggested we pull out card packs and have a Pokémon battle.

Jane smiled happily and walked in front of me, still smiling eerily. I suppressed a shudder and stared stubbornly back into her blood red eyes. Behind her, Edward had risen with a snarl just to be shoved back down by Alec. She seemed to concentrate harder and her sneer wavered.

I smiled pleasantly, inwardly sighing in relief. "You can start anytime you want." I said in a mock tone of sincerity. She hissed in return.

Tentatively, not knowing what would happen, I willed myself to attack at her.

Jane collapsed to the floor with a gasp, groping around blindly, looking utterly and completely helpless. Aro leaned over and waved his hand in front of her eyes, to which she did nothing. Then he called her name near her ear, and when she didn't turn around he kicked her in the side, hard. Smiling slightly when she didn't so much as move out of his way or flinch, Aro stood and applauded slowly.

"Release her." he muttered after a moment.

I did so without mouthing off, and Jane rubbed her eyes and stood, looking around in relief. And before she had time to clear her expression and become immune to weakness again, I saw a distinct flash of fear in her eyes. But soon it was gone and her gaze of loathing met my gaze of pity.

Aro continued on, unbothered by my reaction. "I figured as so. Jane and Alec's gifts are in themselves polar opposites, so you gain the others power while interacting with one."

"As interesting as it was seeing a mere human, teenage girl with little training defeat one of my top soldiers, can we now leave this place?" Caius said bitingly, and Jane flinched. I bristled at the 'mere human, teenage girl' part and opened my mouth to comment rather nastily that the teenage girl would rather happily kick _his_ butt if he used such trivial terms, but Edward shot me a warning glance that plainly told me not to push them too far.

Don't you just hate not being able to verbally assault people when they get you p.o.'d?

**Edward's POV**

She was insanely, insanely brave. Or completely mental. Probably both, actually.

She was talking to the leaders of a homicidal coven of dominance-thirsty vampires as if they merely annoyed her.

And I could've sworn that earlier, when Demetri had put her down in here, that she was contemplating the pros and cons of punching him in the face. Thankfully, she must've decided against it or gotten distracted.

But here I was, held down by three impossibly large guards as Erika calmly and mockingly spoke to the people who could kill her in about a tenth of a second. Then Jane had tried to torture her, and she surprised everyone present by reducing Jane to a sightless, senseless heap on the floor. I hoped briefly that this and her impertinence would miraculously cause them to change their minds and leave her- leave us- be.

It was just the opposite. Her display of her gift's strength only increased their want of her amongst their ranks, according to Aro's mind.

"Yes, yes." Aro replied swiftly, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner. "We've seen all we need. Alec."

Alec walked up, releasing me from his grasp just to be replaced by another guard. He walked up to Erika and placed his hand on her shoulder, tightly. A low growl emitted from my throat.

Caius stood, looking relieved. "Jane, Alec, Heidi, and Demetri come with us, the rest of you will remain here until we signal you. Prevents any immediate rescue missions." He smirked at Alice. She glared up at him.

Marcus stood as well. "It has been a pleasure, lovely to see you all again."

"Right chipper." Erika commented, and Alec's iron grip on her shoulder increased in intensity. Again I snarled.

"Oh, and know that if you all come to rescue her, we'll slay you all." Aro said pleasantly.

Erika's eyes widened and she looked over at me. _Edward, don't you dare come. If I'm already immortal by then, I will personally rip off your arm and beat you with it. I know it'll reattach, so I won't feel guilty. But really, please, please leave them be. If you or Alice or anyone got hurt- _she thought at me hurriedly.

I shook my head once firmly to say that I wasn't going to listen to her on this one.

"Come along." Caius snapped. Alec pushed her forward. Caius turned back to Santiago and said in an emotionless tone. "If any of them try to escape before we contact you, kill them."

**Erika's POV**

You'd be easily surprised how many people have private jets, even if they're complete psychos. But hey, if you've got the cash and need to transport captives, why not buy yourself a nice airplane?

"Could you hold my arms a little tighter, please? I still can feel blood circulating through my fingers." I snapped as I was "escorted" onto a very classy plane.

Alec rolled his eyes and sighed. "How long is the trip back, again?"

"Many hours." Demetri replied, flipping through a magazine on air safety.

"Do you plan to talk through all of them?" Alec asked me, a slight threat underplayed in his words.

"Yep." I said bluntly as he sat me down in the center isle. "What, no restraints?" I mocked as he simply sat down next to me.

"I figure the four of us won't have any trouble subduing you." Alec smirked.

"Wanna try me?"

Heidi sighed from the window aisle, where she was stretched out across three seats like a sofa. "I think she meant it about talking the whole trip." She checked her reflection in a hand mirror.

"And the award for restating the obvious goes to the walking talking Barbie doll!" I said dryly with false enthusiasm.

"We can always crush her lips together so she can't speak." Jane said from behind me. Her hood was pulled over her eyes and she looked like a Halloween trick-or-treater, but ten times creepier.

"Once again, try me." I muttered. "So…" I struggled to think of something to say, for two reasons- no, three. One, because it distracted me from thinking about the Cullens- especially Edward. Two, because it distracted me from thinking about the fact that if their plans went well, I would soon be undead and/or brainwashed. And lastly, because it was absolutely annoying the crap out of them.

"..is the pay good?" I finally said casually.

"Would you define three humans a day as good pay?" Alec smiled wolfishly.

"So you don't even get paid." I said ignoring him. "Great. I'll be dead, brainwashed like you all- no offense- and broke. I think this is a generally good turning point for my life."

Heidi sighed. "But we can get really nice clothes." she said, as if that made everything better and explained everything as well.

"Demetri?" I sighed.

"Hmm?" he seemed surprised I was addressing him, but hey, I do surprising things.

"If I ever start to sound like _her-_" I cocked my head at Heidi. "-kill me where I stand. I ask you this because, right now, you're my favorite loon who's part of my kidnapping party. Not that I love any of you any less." I added loudly in a tone of utter fake sincerity.

Alec smacked his head against the seat in front of it, making a humungo dent.

I tsked. "Do you have any idea how many brain cells you kill when you do that?"

"No. How many?" he asked in a defeated tone, his voice muffled from the seat.

"I really have no idea, BUT I'm sure it's quite a few…. wait…. You're technically dead, so I doubt you have any brain cells that are alive anyway. But the true question is," I continued dramatically, "if you would have any brain cells even if you were alive."

Demetri laughed and Alec looked up from his damaged seat to glower at him.

I patted Alec's shoulder in a falsely caring way. "Don't worry, you're still smarter then Heidi." Not saying much, seeing as from what I had gathered about their past, Heidi was a skankified decoy.

He snarled at me, and after looking into his angry eyes I sent pain coursing through him briefly.

"Oho, a mental tazer, how handy." I smiled. I turned around in my seat to face Jane, who glowered up at me. "Watcha doing?"

"Trying to ignore the fact that you exist."

"And how's that going for you?"

"Not too good, considering you're still talking to me."

"So, when do I get a cape-y thingy?" I asked her.

"When you finally enlist I suppose."

"Do they come in electric blue or cucumber green?" I asked hopefully.

"I have a feeling the color of the fabric I strangle you with won't matter when you're gasping for air." Jane said darkly.

"Tell that to Heidi." I smirked.

"…Erika?" Demetri timidly asked from behind me.

"Yep?" I asked, sitting back down and facing him.

"That girl you were with… the one with the car…. what was her name?"

"Kira." I answered, beginning to grin. "Why?"

"Nothing." he said quickly. Too quickly.

"Yeah, sure."

"Really, nothing."

"Mhmm."

"It is!"

"I never said it wasn't." I snickered. I paused for a bit before bursting into a humming round of 'I Won't Say I'm in Love' from Hercules.

"WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP HUMMING?!" Alec shouted nearly five minutes later. I had moved through many Disney songs by then, all in relation to couples or loveyness.

"Does my humming bother you?"

"Actually, yes." he sighed in frustration.

"Then I'll have to sing instead. Join in if you want." I began singing Beauty and the Beast rather loudly. No one sang. "Oh come on!" I pouted. "Really, none of you know it?!" I looked around as they shook their heads. "Have you ever watched Disney?"

"What, you think we have movie nights in the main hall or something?" Alec said dryly.

"Never?" I said, my eyes widening as I ignored his comment. "When was the last time you all even watched a movie?"

Demetri looked contemplative as he concentrated. "Erm… 1990-something or another."

"Holy. Snot." I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. "Hey, don't worry! I can fix this!"

"How?" Alec raised an eyebrow.

"We'll catch you up on all of the great movies you've missed! I mean, remember, unless I get my way we'll all be stuck together _forever!"_ I beamed with mock happiness.

A chorus of groans was my reply.

On the inside, where I was freaking out, feeling lonely, guilty, and worried, where I wasn't hiding my emotions behind a wall of impenetrable sarcasm, my true thoughts resembled theirs: whoop-de-freakin-do.

**Okay, so this chapter was mainly just humor, and me trying to get back into the flow. Besides, I thought the idea of Erika harassing the main guard funny, especially because they can't kill her. So, hopefully you all enjoyed it. Review dear readers, and please refrain from flames too incinerating.**

Oh, and I need some help. I want to start that teen titans fanfic I told you about up at my first note, but I'm stuck on a title. It's a little more serious than this story, and I really like my idea for it. I don't want to say too much about it, BUT here's the pairings: starts out RobinXStarfire, then becomes RobinXOC because I like transition fics, and then eventually becomes RobinXRaven, because they're one of my favorite pairings and I can't really tell why it's no longer RobinXOC. all in all, I think it'll be a pretty nice, long, fic. so, if you have any title ideas, please suggest away! Thanks for all reviews and sorry for the teaser chapter tester thingie. I was trying to see if I could do this computer mumbo that won't make sense, so I'm not going to even venture to explain it. But again, REVIEW! =D

~Chloe Knightshade, back at last. again.


	15. Chapter 14

**Heyo! Guess what, Guess what! I BROKE ONE HUNDRED! THE BIG ONE-O-O! I have exactly 100 and 4 reviews! 104! MWA-HA! so, besides me spazzing out and such, I have other issued to discuss:  
1. no one has offered a title for my new titans fic that I want to start on soon, which makes me fear that I will have to think of one all by meself. And if that happens, you'll get an odd title like "Flight" or some other junk like that. So, I'd like for some title suggestions in your reviews at the end of this chapter. hint: my oc character is genetically altered to have wings. note: I did NOT take that from Max Ride. I wanted my character to fit well into the Marvel universe, so I did some research for parentage, and discovered that post Justice League there was a group called the Legion of Superheroes, and my character is the daughter of… I can't tell you, but her mother's friend is Dawnstar or something like that, who was altered to have wings. so, my own character is going to have wings, but I can't tell you why, or how she's in the titans time, or any other powers she has…. Wow, that was unhelpful. But hey, here's chapter 14, which is on the 15, and you know why. New Moon quote(I thought it was much better than Twilight, better director, better script, better graphics):** **"He was a fool to think you could survive alone. I've never seen anyone so prone to life-threatening idiocy." –Alice Cullen to Bella**. **Very true Alice, after all, she did jump off a cliff. Sorry, just watched that movie… so, here's the chapter!**

Alice's POV

"When we get out of here, I am going to tear you into tiny, tiny pieces, and cackle as you burn." I threatened one of my captors as I frantically searched through the future, which was getting iffier by the minute. We'd been sitting here for five hours. Five. I have the attention span of a five year old human, and they expected me to just sit there?

Santiago smirked. "I am so frightened by the little midget." Stupid buff lummox.

I ignored the midget crack and kept sifting through probable outcomes, knowing Edward was watching along with me. I didn't tell him off for being in my head either, like I would normally. In fact, I barely acknowledged his awareness. I was too preoccupied with worrying and _seeing_.

_"They won't change her immediately." _I thought at Edward, who, as I suspected, had been listening. "_There'll still be some debate over whether her powers will intensify or decrease by her transformation."_

He gave the slightest nod in response, and remained tense, showing that my news only gave him the slightest bit of hope.

"How long will it take them to get there?" one of the guards whose name didn't matter to me asked.

Felix shrugged. "Dunno. I can't remember." He began ticking a list of with his overly muscled fingers. "Well, they don't have to stop to pee, or make a connection flight, or worry about luggage, and they're flying themselves so…." He paused for a long moment, apparently trying to do some math. "I dunno." he finished.

"Fifteen to twenty hours based upon the type of plane they have." Jasper informed them in a bored tone. I shot him a look. "What?" his eyes widened. "He was attempting eighth grade math. It was _painful_."

I rolled my eyes, which were probably now a dark golden brown based on my lack of hunting lately. My vision clouded. Erika was aboard a rather nice plane and singing what sounded a whole lot like 'ninety-nine pints of blood on the wall' while the members of the guard looked ready to strangle her. Aro, Caius, and Marcus were unfortunately absent in her efforts to drive them all insane, presumably sitting in a private area away from the others. The vision faded and I wore a small, suppressed smile.

Ugh, I missed her.

The unimportant guard looked at our clock on the wall and noted, "They've been gone for at least five hours."

Felix nodded. "That means… around ten to go." he finished proudly.

"You were obviously chosen for your wit, weren't you?" I remarked sardonically.

It took the brute a moment or two to work out the sarcasm, which he obviously missed, and he nodded happily. I sighed.

"I'm thirsty." Rosalie complained suddenly, pouting. I gave her an irritated glance. Was she serious? We were being held prisoner, and she was whining about being THIRSTY? She winked slightly at me and I wondered distinctly, what the heck? I looked over at Edward, who was barely managing to look annoyed.

Felix walked over to her with what I assumed was supposed to be a flirtatious smile and looked into her eyes. "Your irises do seem very black…"

Rosalie nodded sweetly. "Can I go hunt, please? For just a moment? I won't make any trouble, I swear. You can even send one of your guards with me, if you want." she smiled dazzlingly. Emmett looked ready to punch Felix in the face.

He stopped for a moment, thinking. "Hmm… Alright then, but be quick. Harold, you go with her." he motioned toward the until-then nameless guard, who stood with a pleased smile and escorted Rosalie outside.

Emmett glared at Felix, who was still smirking in the direction Rosalie had left. I noticed a muscle above Emmett's right eyebrow was twitching in a threatening way.

Santiago sighed with a frown. "I'm bored."

"I know!" I smiled at him, "You all go out and see a movie. We'll stay here and guard ourselves."

He ignored my sarcasm (it seems Erika rubs off on you) and sniffed the air slowly. "…Do you smell smoke?" he asked aloud to no one in particular.

"Nope!" I smirked at him. "Jazz, you smell smoke?"

"Not at all." Jasper grinned. "Emmett, do you smell smoke?"

Emmett dramatically inhaled. "Uh-uh. Hey, Edward, do you sme-"

"I smell smoke!" One of the slightly smaller guards piped up.

"I didn't ask you." Emmett grumbled.

"Enough! Gregory, Lukaas, go check on them." Santiago ordered in a slightly worried tone.

Jasper looked around the room, surveying what we were up against. I began to asses our situation as well. There were ten of them, well, nine if the smoke was what I thought it was. They were all larger then us, and specifically trained for combat. BUT, very few of them were gifted, mostly just brawny. Still, they had the better odds. A sudden inhuman scream echoed from the woods behind our house. I smiled eerily at our captors.

I sprung onto Santiago the second Gregory and Lukaas rushed out. Emmett took advantage of our initial attack and raced outside to finish them off.

Within a few milliseconds, my whole family was upon them, attacking with such anger and determination that it seemed to make up for our lesser numbers.

Emmett and Rosalie sprinted back in, two blurs, unceremoniously dragging a large, dead oak through our back French doors. Glass shattered violently, but it bounced off our hardened skin easily.

Emmett pulled out a large gasoline container and proceeded to sprint around the tree in the center of the living room, pouring the gasoline upon it. Rosalie lit a lighter she removed from her jacket pocket and lit it, throwing the whole thing upon the tree in one fluent motion. Almost instantly, the whole thing plus my favorite couch we've ever had erupted into flames.

I skillfully ripped off Santiago's head and threw it into the fire, smiling smugly and bitterly as he began screaming in agony. "Told you I'd do that." I said simply.

His body stood up from the floor and began throwing its fists at me, I ducked the first hits, but was caught by a roundhouse kick to me neck. A small cry escaped my lips as my neck cracked loudly and pain shot up and down my spine.

Jasper roared and turned form where he'd been throwing guards into our bonfire and threw himself at Santiago's decapitated body, tearing off his limbs and hurling them into the flames. His torso soon followed, writhing in pain.

Jazz crouched over me, cradling my head in his hands gently, his eyes wild with fear. "Alice?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine." I winced as my bones began readjusting themselves. "That was stupid, I was watching him, but I wasn't _watching_ him-" I babbled. I hate it when your bones shift. It felt all squirmy.

Thankfully, he cut me off. "It's fine."  
I nodded and stood as my neck finally healed, and caught an arm that had flown from where Edward was destroying a guardsman with such fury, you would've thought he was personally responsible for Erika being kidnapped. I flung it into the still roaring fire with the rest of the bodies that withered away into ashes.

And then, as suddenly as the battle started, it stopped.

All of the guards left to watch us were now dead. Dead-dead. As in the actual no-longer-moving-around-killing-people dead.

Emmett watched his arm reattach with a look of pure calm and then placed it around Rosalie's shoulder, obviously still disgruntled with the Felix episode.

Carlisle straightened his collar as I hosed down the fire with a fire extinguisher and frowned at the state of our poor couch. This is the reason why fire extinguishers are a must have in every home, children.

"_Leather Sofa with sectionals and built in recliner, you shall be sorely missed. You've seen good moments, bad moments, and lived through many a stain. May you rest in burnt pieces in peace." _I thought in a daze. I suppose having your neck broken affects your thought processing.

"It's a couch, Alice." Edward sighed, speaking aloud for the first time since they'd taken Erika.

"Yeah…" I trailed off. I looked over at Rosalie. "That was devious, manipulative, and downright bad. I approve." Rose grinned at me.

"Where'd you get the lighter, though?" Jasper asked, looking puzzled.

She started to tell him, but was interrupted by a light knocking noise from out front door. Immediately we all crouched into a defensive position, except for Edward, who walked forward with an incredulous look on his face and opened the door.

"Oh, good. You all aren't dead." Kira beamed back at him. Zoe stood next to her, wearing the same expression. They were clothed entirely in black, including beanies upon their heads, and both of them had their hair pulled back into ponytails. And then I noticed that Kira had a bottle of lighter fluid in one hand and a pocket knife in the other. Zoe had a weed whacker propped on her shoulder like an umbrella and a steak knife in her hand.

"What?" I sputtered at my friends. "What're you doing here?"

"Well, you guys never called to say whether Erika got out of it or not, and we were worried." Kira said simply.

"So your response to this worry was to sneak out here with a weed whacker and some knives and try to do what exactly?" Jasper said from behind me.

"Well, we didn't have exactly the largest immediate supply of power tools, and this was the only one that didn't need to be plugged in." Zoe replied in a lofty voice. "Plus, when you rev it up it sounds a lot like a chainsaw."

"I see…" Esme said doubtfully.

"Oh, hi, Mr. and Mrs. Cullen!" Kira waved over Edward's head. "I don't think we've met. I'm Kira, Erika and Alice's friend. I was the getaway car."

"I'm Zoe, the distraction." Zoe waved as well, the steak knife still in her hand.

"Um… hello." Carlisle ventured. "Er… call me Carlisle?"

"Mkay!" Kira smiled.

Edward was still looking bewildered. "And what exactly were you planning to do with the weed whacker, exactly?"

"No idea, really." Zoe grinned. "Probably hit people with it." I stared at her incredulously. "What?" she shrugged.

Rosalie spoke up. "They're where I got the lighter from. And the gasoline. You all must have been to busy worrying to smell them. I don't know why the guards missed them as well…"

"They assumed they were kids messing around in the woods, and that they were why Rosalie wanted to go hunting in the first place." Edward answered.

Emmett grinned. "And what were you planning to do if one of the Volturi opened the door and we were all dead?"

"Um…" Kira looked over at Zoe. "Run. Or scream. I think."

"I thought it was screaming while running." Zoe said thoughtfully. "So… are we going to be interrogated about how insanely brave we are all night, or are we going to make a plan?"

"Try just insane. And you're not coming to Italy with us." I rolled my eyes.

"Why not?" Kira pouted.

"One, you're both human and therefore prone to die easier. And two, because Erika would kill us." Edward pointed out.

"Oh, but you are forgetting that you don't have a plan, and we do." Zoe countered.

"Well, if it's as brilliant as this one." Edward said dryly, gesturing to the weed whacker.

"It's better. Trust me. We have a way in." Kira replied firmly, but for some reason, blushed slightly.

Edward stared at them intently for a while. "Fine. But you're going to just get us in, and stay outside of their home entirely."

"What?!" I objected loudly. This is what happens when you actually have friends, and they happen to be human. You're stuck with constantly worrying about them remaining alive.

**Erika's POV**

  
I was sitting in a rather elaborately decorated room that had a large canopy bed that probably hadn't been slept in for hundreds of years. My slightly torn blue jeans were now gone, and I was wearing a relatively simple black nightgown (I think black, red, and brown are the only color these people actually wear. Like an overly elaborate dress code).

The flight had dragged on for what seemed like forever, but we had finally arrived in Volterra, which was in my humble opinion, too pretty for such a creepy organization.

According to Demetri, it was still being debated whether I was to be changed or not.

He was stationed outside of "my room", guarding me. But he was actually okay. Polite and sort of funny, even. He had been filling me in with some information about the Volturi that I didn't already know.

Suddenly, there was a knock on my door before it opened. Aro walked in, followed by Demetri, who stood silently in the doorway.

"So…" Aro smiled at me, which almost made me shudder. "What do you think of our home."

"Honestly?" I asked, and continued when he nodded. "It's cold, it smells funny, and I personally think that you're even creepier than Willy Wonka."

He laughed loudly, sounding psychotic. "I'm sure over time that your feelings towards this place will change. After all, you will be here for quite some time."

"So you've decided to change me." I stated.

Aro nodded. "Indeed. We found it would be much more useful to us if you became immortal as well."

"I see." was all I said.

"That's it?" he asked in surprise. "No begging for a different solution?"

"I'm not one to grovel." I said angrily, my eyes narrowing.

Again he laughed, "My. Again I am surprised young Edward fell for you. Don't misunderstand me, you're quite lovely-" at this I did shudder- "But you're quite different then his last 'true love'." He said mockingly. "Perhaps…"

He suddenly took my hand. I flinched as what I supposed were all of the thoughts he was ever going to have slammed into me. I yanked my hand away from his quickly.

Aro smiled. "Perhaps he was intrigued by the few ways you are alike, and nothing more." he smirked as he brushed my hair away from the side of my neck, barring his fangs. I stared straight forward, bluntly refusing to close my eyes and knowing that it was pointless to run in fear.

"So be it." I muttered.****

Yeah, so…. CLIFFY! MAHA! Once again, thanks for the reviews, give me some more, they make me happy! oh, and don't forget title suggestions. OH! AND REMEMBER, SMILES ARE FREE SO GIVE THEM AWAY!

"My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

~Chloe Knightshade. Long live insanity.


	16. Chapter 15

**Heyo! I bring forth another chapter, and here it lies. now, let's recap for dramatic affect, shall we?  
When I last posted: Erika was about to be bitten by Aro, and the Cullens were no where in sight. Has all hope been lost? I think not!  
**

**So sorry this took so long to get up. Last week of schooling before break is bust loaded with exams (:O the horror!) but, I PASSED! (and got A's on all but one, I might add. And the other was a high B.)**

in other news, I has 113 reviews! I thank you! And thankfully, I have gotten some suggestions for a teen titans fic title. I'm still pretty open to ideas, but the one I like best so far was "Wing of an Angel" which was sent in by **XxBabyEmo94xX **** Thanks a bunches! And also, thanks to ****michi-nin ****who also suggested a very good title! :D so, without further ado, chapter 15 on 16, cause that's how we do, what we do.**

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substitute page breaker:**

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Erika's POV**

I felt the muscles involuntarily tense as Aro's cold breath hit my skin. I gave myself a pep talk as best I could. I could do pain. I mean, I was the girl who had her leg broken in two places when I fell out of a tree house at the age of eight and simply shouted 'Holy CRAAAAP!' Then I only cried for about a minute, mainly because the nurse dared to approach me with a needle and I tried to stand to throw a Germex bottle at her in response. Now, if I multiply my broken leg + being torched X being hit by a bus… I might break even, considering the past transformations I'd _seen_.

As his fangs first began to brush against my throat, I had a sudden feeling that we weren't alone anymore. And, no, none of that paranormal 'woooo' stuff. But I knew that others had entered.

Great. Not only do I have to be changed into a vampire, which is utterly painful (see the lovely equation above), I have to have a crowd of vampires watching. Probably betting on how much I would scream. Or how loudly. Maybe even both. I grit my teeth together, waiting for impact, silently vowing not to scream.****

"Drop the fangs and step away from the human." Emmett said from behind Aro in a dramatic voice he'd probably mimicked from a cop show. But, despite his odd tone, I could tell he was thankful they'd made on time. I exhaled slowly, letting myself feel relief.

Aro turned and sighed through his nose, "Now really. Must we go through this again? We have the girl, we're changing her, and she's joining our guard. This isn't exactly an optional sort of thing."****

Edward took a step forward, a murderous look on his face. "Erika." he said softly.

The last person I'd directly made contact with was… I smiled and lashed out at Aro before stepping over to the Cullens as he fell to the floor in agonizing pain. Thank you, Alec. Edward laced his icy fingers with mine and Alice protectively moved to my other side.

I glanced over at Demetri, tensing slightly, but very reluctant to start mentally stabbing him. Instead of trying to kill us, he simply smiled and sort of smirked at my dumbfounded expression.

Edward took me by the shoulders and he stared at me intently, his eyes scanning my face, but hastily avoiding my eyes. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" he asked hurriedly.

"Well, no one laughed at my jokes, so they may have bruised my feelings, and Jane kept saying she'd formally introduce me to my intestines if I so much as mentioned singing…" I half smiled, glad to see him. "But… how?" I gestured at them being here.

"Kira and Zoe." Alice grinned, and I could tell by the look on her face that she was comforted not to see me dead.

My face became resigned. "Who'd they kill?"

Jasper blinked at me. "Um… no one, I think…"

"Well, see…" Alice struggled for words. "You know how you smell to Edward?" I nodded and Edward stiffened slightly. "Well, Kira smells like that to Demetri. So when we came here, he smelt her and left for a bit-"

I interrupted her. "You let Kira and Zoe come? And you left?!" I asked Demetri incredulously.

"Well, I…" he stammered.

"Can I finish?" Alice huffed.

"Sorry. Bit of a shock that I rambled on to a door for a while. I wondered why you didn't speak back…" I muttered, almost feeling stupid. But it takes quite a bit to manage to do that.

"Anyway," Alice rolled her eyes. "Kira convinced him to help us out. He gave us a way in, and-"

"And now we need to get out." Carlisle interrupted. Alice looked fed up with being disrupted, but nodded. She stepped over Aro without much concern and we all made toward the door. Emmett kicked him on his way over, smirking at him triumphantly.

Edward opened the door, and my eyes accidently met with the person who was coming in.

"My lord, we've received news that the Cullens have escaped-" Chelsea broke off, her crimson eyes widening at the sight of us.

Slowly, I felt my hold on Aro behind me slip away, and I heard him grunt and scramble to his feet. "_Oh, fudge-muffins,"_ I thought. Emmett swore behind me more expressively.

Chelsea lunged at me from one side, Aro from the other. Two resonating cracks emitted as Edward pushed in front of me, and Emmett threw himself at Aro.

"Well, great, I'm sure no one heard that." I muttered dryly.

I was right: moments later, Caius, Marcus, and my old main guard friends poured in through the stone wall, unable to make their way through the blockage in the doorway. Fighting erupted, everyone moving in a confusing blur.

The rather large one- Corin, I think- slammed his fist into Edward's jaw, making his head snap back. I winced and immediately reacted, picking up a vase on the coffee table and throwing it at his head. The pottery shattered into many pieces, and while it did nothing to him, it did get his attention.

He turned and glared at me, suddenly a foot away from me. And phase two of my brilliant pot chucking mission was still in progress. All I had was the opposite of Chelsea's ability to break connections between people. What was I supposed to do? Make his connections to these homicidal maniacs stronger?

Corin chuckled at me darkly.

"Alice, take Erika and run! Demetri get them out of here!" Edward bellowed, tackling Corin to the floor.

"I'm not leaving you!" I shouted stubbornly. Demetri suddenly threw me over his shoulder, and he and Alice sped threw the hole in the wall and down the hallway.

After a few feeble attempts, I managed to shout at them over the wind slamming into my face. "HEY! PUT ME DOWN! ARE YOU LISTENING?!" I demanded, half snarling. With no other options, I decided to go for the Chelsea approach. I thought hard about their ties of loyalty to me and those we'd just left.

Demetri skidded to an abrupt halt, looking slightly puzzled. "She's right… we can't leave them. They need us."

"We need her alive!" Alice shouted, frustrated. "Erika! Get out of our heads!" She tried to meet my gaze, but I closed my eyes.

"They're outnumbered." I said quietly. "They'll never make it out alive without you two."

"You're not going back there." Alice said firmly.

"Then…" I bit my lip. "Demetri, go." I relented. "You can at least show them back. Alice and I should be able to make our way from here. They NEED you."

Alice sighed. "You're evil." she muttered quietly. "Demetri, go ahead."

A smile broke out on my face. "Thanks." Demetri nodded and put me down. He was gone in a few seconds.

Alice sighed. "Come on." she held out her arms to carry me.

"No way." I shook my head, walking by myself in the direction we'd been heading. I was still dizzied by my last piggy back ride. But then again, I had been dangling upside down. "I'm way too heavy for you."

"Erika, don't be stupid." Alice kept up with me easily. "What do you weigh? Like one-twenty? I could probably hurl you to the entrance from here. Course you'd have to go through a wall…" she looked at me pointedly, and I noticed that her eyes were a dark honey and she needed to hunt soon.

I sighed. "Fine…" I grumbled, allowing her to put me on her back and proceed down a large flight of stairs.

As soon as she reached the bottom, there was a sudden blur of black and I was suddenly hurled against a wall, my head slamming into a large marble column. There was a sickening cracking noise that made my stomach churn. I put my hand up to my temple and lowered it, dripping with blood. "Ouch…" I muttered, still probably in shock to feel too much of the pain.

My vision was fuzzy and spotted when I opened my eyes. I blinked to clear it, and a blurage of pale blond and red swam in front of me.

"Ah, so, so close. You nearly made it." came a chilling voice.

Jane smirked down at me. "I have to say, I'm impressed. I never thought you would make it this far." she continued, carefully avoiding directly meeting my eyes. "Oh, and I'm so sorry about your nasty little fall. But accidents do happen, as you very well know. And who can say that there won't be any more 'accidents' in your near future?"

"Erika!" I heard Alice shout from across the room, where she was being held in an iron grip. Her head was tilted so far to the side, it seemed as if it was shifted half an inch further, her neck would snap all together.

I tried to scramble to my feet, but nearly blacked out. The side of my head was drenched in my blood.

Jane smirked. "Humans. Always so tragically breakable. I do have to say, though, I hadn't expected this much blood." She sniffed slightly and her eyes turned a shade darker. Jane shook her head and looked as if in deep thought. "Now, how will I dispose of you in a way that won't incriminate me?"

"You don't plan on changing me then." I managed to state, struggling to remain conscious.

She snorted. "Of course not. You'd be the pride of our guard, the best of the troops, Aro's favorite. That's _my_ occupancy. I made my way to the top, and I'm not going to be beaten out of the way by a newborn. And if I let you go, then you may just become a weapon for the Romanian tribe when you leave the Cullens."

I opened my mouth to tell her off for thinking I'd be that dense, but she cut me off and kept going. "Don't tell me you wouldn't. Even you aren't so thick that you could go on for eternity without realizing that you're just a replacement, a substitute. A fill-in for Isabella Swan. No, if I let you go, one day you'd realize that you were tired of pretending you weren't an alternate in their lives. You'd leave, and finding no where to go, you'd end up right back here, which is what I'd hate the most, or you'd end up being fought over as a weapon." Jane sneered. "Think of me killing you as a mercy act. This way, you never again have to feel that every time he looks at you, or smiles at you, that he's secretly wishing you were her. This way, you don't have to wonder if he'd have chosen you if she was still alive."

I grit my teeth. I wasn't going to let her get to me. She wanted to break me, just as Aro had told her to. "You're lying. You don't have any idea what you're talking about."

"I don't?" Jane smiled sinisterly. "Did you know that Bella came to Volterra once? I was there. I saw the way she looked at him, the way he looked at her. And even I, who feels no love for anything, knew they were completely idiotic about each other. I was also there right after she died. He was completely broken. I guess he was using you to hold himself together." she finished nastily.

I cocked my head and managed to glare up at her, unpleased to find her gaze was directed to a point over my shoulder. "How about I fill in what I know about you, since we're both being open?" I said angrily, looking into her past, needing to piss her off to get her back. "You never fit in as a human because you liked seeing others in pain. Your teachers called you violent, some thought you were possessed. The only one who ever understood you was your twin, but you ruined any real bond you could ever have by viewing him as a rival instead of a friend. Once you were changed you finally found a place where you were accepted. But you were feared, and this both pleased and saddened you. You strive to be Aro's favorite because you yearn for acceptance."

My voice cracked a couple of times during my speech, but I could tell by the look on her face that I'd struck a couple of nerves. "Anything else?" Jane snarled softly.

"Yeah. You're also ticked about being stuck as a thirteen year old forever, because you're afraid you're underestimated." I finished. "And you are in serious need of a shrink."

Jane glowered at me. "I think I've decided what to tell my masters when they ask what happened to you."

"That I pulled out your spleen through your nose and got away?" I said sourly, breathing heavily as my world dimmed.

"No, but very creative. I think I'm going to tell them that after I hit you, little Alice lost control around all that blood. And she won't be able to tell them otherwise, seeing as we'll kill her right after you. But don't worry, I'm sure one of the other Cullens can tell you whether Eddie cried for you when he heard the news." she paused. "That's not even the best part. The best part is that I get to drink your blood as further evidence."

She kneeled down beside me and lifted my head up by my hair, baring her teeth and lowering her fangs toward my throat.

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**  
Edward's POV**

A battle of the immortals isn't very easy, especially without a convenient fire roaring nearby. That being said, we were basically tearing apart our attackers only to have the same person coming at us a few seconds later, rebuilt and twice as angry.

None of my family had died yet. Yet.

But it was only a matter of time before our smaller numbers were over taken.

_"Edward! There's too many!"_ Rosalie thought beside me, roundhouse kicking someone coming at her. Even Emmett nodded in reluctant agreement.

"_Do you think they made it out_?" Esme thought as she punched a vampire to her left.

"I hope so." I muttered, beginning to loose hope, even though Jasper was going on emotion control overdrive trying to prevent that from happening.

The unblemished wall behind us suddenly broke apart with a noisy explosion-like sound. A small army burst in- in other words five other vampires. I inwardly groaned. More people who want us dead.

Carlisle suddenly seemed puzzled. "Stefan? Vladimir?"

I remained tense, but less so than earlier. The two- and only- living members of the Romanian coven were obviously here for a specific purpose, and the other three must be newborns. The group began attacking the Volturi viciously.

"Hello, Cullens." Stefan said pleasantly, seeming oblivious to our surprise.

"Why are you here?" Emmett asked suspiciously.

Vladimir snorted disdainfully, "Isn't it obvious? We're helping you get your little human out."

"But why?" I hissed, on the defensive still.

"Do you honestly think that we're going to let the Volturi have her? With all of that ability?" Stefan chuckled darkly, his red eyes gleaming with vengeance.

Vladimir looked up. "Are you lot still here? Go ahead and take your leave already. We'll hold off the Italians as you do so."

We stared at him, still in shock until I suddenly sprinted off after Alice and Erika, the rest of my family following, except Carlisle.

"My family thanks you." Carlisle said formally to the Romanians.

"Don't, Carlisle. You are now in our debt." I heard Vladimir call after my father.

As I entered the main hall where the elevator was, the first thing that I noticed was a scent I thought I had nearly gotten used to.

Hers.

I couldn't silence it, but I found it was almost ignorable. I could walk next to her, talk to her, and occasionally kiss her without going mad. Whenever I saw her for the first time in a couple of hours, the burning thirst was brutal, but I would find her shining company overpowering it somehow.

But now, it was stronger than ever. As if it felt the need to remind me, her smell slammed into me harder than it ever had before. It tore its way down my throat and set it on fire.

I hadn't been hunting in a week, but I doubted it would have been any better if I had just finished hunting. I could literally feel the venom pouring into my mouth. Erika smelt amazing, and it was driving me insane.

Then realization dawned on me, her scent was stronger because she was bleeding. A lot. I flew down the stairs, only to find Jane kneeling over her in a pool of blood.

A animalistic roar came from somewhere. It took a little while for me to realize that it was me.

Jane whirled around to face me, and I raced up to her and soon had her by her throat, pinned to the wall. I began squeezing her neck, anger clouding any rational thought.

Crippling pain erupted in my skull, and I involuntarily let go of her. Jane smirked at me before it faded slightly, or at least enough to be able to concentrate on what she was saying.

"Ah, Edward. A part of me was hoping you'd come." she sneered. "I wanted to be the one to see the look on your face." Seeing my gaze shoot to Erika's still form, she rolled her eyes. "No, she's not dead. She's just fighting to remain conscious. Which makes what I'm about to show you even more delighting."

"What do you want?" I managed to mutter hoarsely.

"Just to introduce you to someone. Caitir, come here." a frail looking girl stepped out of the shadows, her black hair draping most of the way over her crimson eyes.

"This is Caitir, our newest member." Jane addressed me. "Quite a new addition, but she's also quite talented. As you might have noticed, she's got a weak mental shield. But that's not her true capability. You see, Caitir can temporarily resurrect the dead. Aro thinks that it's because her parents were the caretakers of a cemetery."

Beyond all reason, my eyes widened and one thought popped into my head. Bella. "Why are you doing this?" I muttered, grimacing.

"I want to see all of the pain you've ever suffered because of love displayed plainly on your face." Jane whispered.

Caitir closed her eyes and a look of concentration overcame her. The room dimmed and a shimmer appeared in front of me. Slowly, gradually, the shimmer became a figure that began to look solid. Brown hair, pale skin, and large, trusting and gentle brown eyes.

Bella. My Bella.

I stood, "This isn't real. This is a lie." I whispered, trying to convince myself that she wasn't there.

But she was.

"Edward." my name sounded so familiar on her tongue.

"Edward." Bella repeated, and a smile lit up her face. "You didn't kill yourself. Just like you promised me. I've missed you."

Only she could have known that I had promised that to her, I thought irrationally. "Bella?" I asked, and my voice cracked. I reached my hand out to her, but it passed through her. "I've missed you too."

Her eyes became sad. "Have you? You've chosen another. I thought I was your life."

"You are. You were. I mean-" I stammered, failing to put my point across.

Bella continued. "Does she mean as much to you as I did?"

"Yes! No! What I mean is-" I wasn't making any sense now.

Bella bit her lip, a few tears streaked down her face. "Edward, I thought you loved me."

"I… I…" I struggled.

She became blurry and slowly faded. I looked around frantically for her. "No! NO! BELLA!" I shouted, my voice echoed off the ceiling.

A strong hand rested on my shoulder and I looked up at Carlisle. His eyes were incredibly sad. "My son, we must go." he said quietly.

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself, and then managed to nod. I stood and noticed Jane and Caitir had left, probably to tell the guards that we were out there and distracted. I felt impeccably stupid.

I suddenly spotted Erika on the floor, Alice sitting beside her, weakly calling her name. I sprinted to her side to see my angel laying there, her brilliant emerald eyes hazy with pain. "Erika.." I whispered. "Erika, I'm so sorry…" I ripped off my shirt and wrapped it around her head, trying to staunch the flow of blood. Her eyes fluttered shut and she went limp. But she was still breathing. Strangely, her heart was pumping in overtime.

"Edward…" Alice pointed at her throat. Erika had to evenly spaced holes in the side of her neck that were an odd blackish color. Jane had bitten her.

I picked her up bridal style and carried her into the elevator with the rest of my family, hating myself because I knew that if Jane hadn't bitten her, I couldn't have. That I wouldn't have been able to stop.

~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~

**Lookie mommy! optimism!**

yeah, so… DON'T HURT ME!!! IT HAD TO BE DONE!

this is my main way of tying up this story. No, this does not mean this is the final chapter, so breathe.

oh, one more thing. Some people have asked me if I mind if people want to make some fanart or a movie ish thing on youtube or whatever based off this story. The answer is, no, of course not. I would love to see how you guys interpret this, and it makes me happy to see stuff based off of this. I has 3 requirements, though.

1. that you mention somewhere that your work has some basing off of mine, and mention my name.

2. That you give me a link or tell me what you made, cause I wanna see it! I'd make me happy, and since I'm no good at that sort of thing, I'm not judgy!

3. Please PLEASE PLEASE DON'T COPY AND PASTE MY STUFF! that would make me grouchy! and I'd have to hunt you down. But I'm totally cool with writing stuff about or having to do with my fic. Just, if you use my characters or plot, please mention me. I worked hard on this, as crappy as it may be, and everyone has their dues.

So….

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!!  


**And HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE!**

~Chloe Knightshade

p.s.: hehe! this chapter was looong!


	17. Chapter 16

**So… This chapter took a longer time to get than the others, I don't really know why… I'm guessing that it was my mad procrastination skills at work! SORRY! I think it was because the reviews went til 119, then stopped for a looooooong time. I'm pretty sure I subconsciously holding out for 120, and when I got it, I kept putting it of… =D. But hey, it's finally here.  
**

**The last chapter ended with some nice happy thoughts, right?**

…Well, at least it wasn't really a cliffhanger.

Anywho, 16 on 17, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE IT!

~~~~~~~~~~~****************************~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edward's POV

After being alive for so long, you'd think I'd be patient by now. I mean, Alice was of course an exception to that thinking- expecting her to be patient was like expecting for it to rain upwards or expecting Emmett to shrink; it was pointless.

Apparently the same goes for me not worrying.

After an odd flight back in the stolen jet Alice had "borrowed", we eventually ended up back in our home that was still just how we'd left it: a charcoaled sofa in our living room/ fire pit, a massive hole in the wall surrounded by glass shards, not to mention the giant singed skeleton of a massive tree.

Hey, who said battlefields were pretty?

Erika was placed on our guest bed, and for the first two days, I wouldn't leave her side. I was too preoccupied with self- loathing to be bored.

But then Alice demanded that I go hunt before Erika woke up to find one of her best friends sucked dry. Kira and Zoe hastily seconded the notion. So I reluctantly left for an hour, and returned to find Erika unchanged.

Then the worrying began. It was the end of her second day, and she looked the same as she had on the plane, except that her head had stopped bleeding.

The part that freaked me out was that her face was emotionless. Not even pained. Nothing. And she only looked a shade paler, no where near our skin tone yet. She was even still breathing, though her breaths were less frequent and her heart sometimes raced and other times was slow in coming.

The third day came. The third day went, and so did part of my sanity.

Alice joined me in the room on the fourth day, the nervousness in her thoughts not helping me remain calm.

_"I've know she'll make it. I've seen it. Sort of. She doesn't die. Why am I worried? I'm not worried. Pftt." _she thought, her mental voice hurried and panicked. How helpful.

Carlisle told us to think sensibly. Erika was the first reverser to ever make it alive to the change. We didn't know if it would take three days or three months.

Alice firmly told him she'd be legally deranged by then. And she meant it.

The fifth day, still there was nothing. The advice from the rest of my family remained constant as well: you can't be sure, don't worry, I'm sure it'll work out soon.

"Edward. What… what if she never wakes up?" Alice suddenly asked on the sixth day, voicing her fears for the first time and interrupting my thoughts about the last dreadful week. "What if she's in some sort of coma?" her voice was barely above a whisper.

I shook my head. "That's illogical… I mean, when have you ever heard of a change coma?"

"But…" Alice bit her lip, not finishing what we both knew she was going to say: that a reverser hadn't ever been changed before.

"I know." I muttered quietly. Part of me could remember the change. It had been like drowning in liquid fire. It was terrible, and mine had lasted only three days. Erika's was already twice the usual length. It hurt to just even think about how much torture she must be in. It hurt even more to know I was part of the reason why she was experiencing it.

* * *

**  
Alice's POV**

It was now the seventh day since we'd arrived home. The couch had been replaced, as well as the floors, the wall, and the door. It hadn't taken too long, considering the others were all helping. I had assumed my post at the window bench, staring out at the backyard, frequently glancing over at Erika.

I furrowed my brow. Every vision I tried to have with her in it was fuzzy, like it usually was when things were indefinite. Yesterday though, I'd had a vision of us back at school, but Erika wasn't clear. She was blurred. And then, suddenly, she was nothing but a vague shimmer of light where she'd once stood.

Needless to say, it frightened me. If I had a heart, I'd be having a heart attack of some sort. Never, not even when I tried to have a vision of someone who was dying, had they been replaced by a pulsating glow. EVER.

Edward was sitting in a wooden chair at Erika's bedside, his eyes rarely leaving her face, as if he was trying to memorize it or something. They were dark again; maybe the stress was affecting him.

I sighed and walked over behind him. "Edward," I began, intending to tell him to go hunting, and that I'd watch her. But I was interrupted by something very soft, but so very sudden that I nearly leapt into the air.

"Ow…" Erika muttered, rolling onto her stomach, her face in her pillow.

"Erika?" Edward whispered.

I had one of those stupid moments you tend to have in tense situations, and I asked her if she was awake.

She flatly told me no.

I beamed at her and jumped on the bed, and then proceeded to begin babbling like an idiot. "You've been out so long and you weren't doing anything and I stole a plane and Carlisle was all 'These things take time' and Rose was all 'Maybe she's dead' and I was all 'Wake up already!' AND YOU DID! I'VE BEEN SO WORRIED!" I exploded, letting out everything I'd held in the past week.

"… What?" Erika said, sounding puzzled. I translated that to: 'No need to worry, I feel fine now, but thanks for caring. You're a great friend.'

"You've been out for a week!" I cried in exasperation. "I haven't talked in DAYS, I've been so worried!"

She chuckled slightly. "Well, that explains it."

"Explains…?" I trailed off.

"Why I feel like crap and you can't stop rambling." Erika sounded like she was smirking into her pillow.

Being the kind and thoughtful friend I am, I conveniently forgot Erika just went through a bunch of pain and swatted her arm. "Ouch!" I shouted, whipping my hand back. Her skin was hard. I tentatively poked her arm, which was no longer soft like a human's. It was around the same as ours was, maybe a shade harder… does hardness even come in shades? And on that note, her skin was still way too tan.

I shook my head to clear my jumbled thoughts. "Erika…?"

She turned around to look at us, opening her eyes for the first time.

**~~~~~~~~~~~****************************~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Erika's POV

I hurt all over. The whole transformation was kind of a blur, but now that I was awake and out of it, I realized my entire body could remember it. Everything ached and stung. I was inhaling and exhaling like normal, but it felt weird, like I didn't need to but wanted to. Which, I guess is now technically true. I flipped over to look at Alice, who had apparently finished interrogating me.

"How long was I out?" I asked Alice, who was gaping at me like a goldfish for some reason.

"Uh… Uh… seven days?" she answered, making it sound like a question.

"Are you sure?" I asked dryly.

"Yeah… Erika… You're eyes…" Alice muttered cocking her head.

"Alice, I never make fun of you when your eyes turn black." I said grumpily.

"They're not black…" Alice leaned forward to zoom in on my face.

"Then?"

"They're still green." she stated, looking mildly surprised.

"What? No blood red irises? I'm quite disappointed, really." I raised one of my eyebrows sarcastically.

"I'm serious." Alice said indigently. "They're still green. And you're not too pale." She poked me. "You sure you're a vampire?"

I paused for a moment, thinking, then barred my newly fanged teeth and hissed at her, rather successfully.

"You terrify me." she said dryly.

"I should." I nodded in approval.

"They're a little lighter than they used to be." Edward said quietly, speaking for the first time, a small smile on his face.

My chest suddenly heart, just from looking at him, but I couldn't remember why. I searched my memory and came up with nada. I glanced over at Alice and met her eyes before shuffling through the day I'd been changed.

Got abducted, check.

Frightened a band of people who could eat me on their private plane. Good.

Slammed into a pillar and finally glimpsed my brains, yep.

Saw Edward have an emotional breakdown because he's obviously been trying to replace the dead girl he loves with me.

I closed my eyes, willing the vision to stop, but it didn't happen quickly enough. I still saw the longing in his eyes, heard it in his voice. And it didn't matter that I wasn't watching anymore, now the memory was vivid. And it hurt. Bits of what Jane and Aro had told me came back as well. How couldn't I have seen it?

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" I heard him ask, like he didn't know what I'd seen. Like he didn't know that I'd finally realized I was his back up plan, his way of keeping Bella Swan alive.

I looked up at his worried face. "Nothing." I said, my tone slightly icy. "Alice, can I go home?"

She looked surprised. "Well, um… I don't know."

Edward frowned. "You can't. You just woke up, you're disoriented."

"I'm fine." I said stubbornly, needing to get out of there, away from him. I felt so incredibly stupid that I hadn't seen this coming. I sat up and turned to Alice. "What do my parents know? What do they think?"

"The Volturi already messed with their memories before they took you. You went on a foreign exchange trip to France. Apparently you've been talking about it for weeks." Alice replied, looking puzzled as well.

"I'll just say I got homesick or something, then." I stood up. "How different do I look?"

Alice squinted at me. "Not much. Some paler and you can't let them touch you. I think you're hair's a tinge lighter and longer as well."

"You can't be serious." Edward protested. "You don't even know how you'll react around humans yet."

"I'm not thirsty at all, thanks." I rolled my eyes, and it was the truth. The burning thirst I'd heard about wasn't even there. I headed for the door. He raced to it, but now I was faster, being a newborn. I ducked around his arm and kept walking out of the house.

**~~~~~~~~~~~****************************~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Edward's POV

Erika had often confused me before, but never like this. And I'd never seen her so angry before, especially never this angry without saying why.

"What's wrong?" I nearly shouted as I followed her out of my house.

"Nothings wrong. Everything's just awesome!" she shot back at me. I threw myself at her and tackled her onto the grass, every bit the gentleman as always.

Erika narrowed her still-breathtaking emerald eyes up at me. _"Edward, let me go or I'll rip you to shreds. You know I can."_ she thought at me.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong." I said stubbornly.

_"The fact you have to ask is astounding."_ she replied mentally, still managing to sound thoroughly p..

"What did I do?" I asked angrily. I was suddenly flipped onto my back, and she was standing above me. My vision swam in front of me and I wondered how hard she'd hit me.

Then I saw it. Jane and Aro each telling her that she was a fill-in, and how she'd denied it up until she'd seen me reach out for Bella, my face torn.

I closed my eyes, ashamed. "Was that your thoughts…?" I muttered.

"No." she replied evenly. "I sent you a vision. Good-bye, Edward." Erika turned and walked off, her locks blowing in the slight breeze.

And I didn't follow. How could I, at that moment? She hated me. And I couldn't really blame her. From her viewpoint, I'd used her.

… Had I?

Maybe, as much as I hated to admit it, I'd considered it at the beginning.

But then I remembered how I'd tried to convince myself I didn't love her, didn't want to be around her, and how I'd failed at that.

I sat there for a while and then stood up, and walked slowly walked back toward the house and stalked inside.

"What's the matter?" Esme asked, her concern evident.

I didn't answer and sat down at my piano and stared at the keys, not moving.

_"Oh, it must be bad."_ she thought, walking over to my side.

Carlisle was at my other side quickly. "Where did Erika go-"

"She left." I replied dully.

_"Did she see…?"_ he asked.

"Yes." I said bluntly.

Alice was glaring at me from where she sat at the top of the stairs. She felt bad for me, but was still angry. _"How could you have been that dumb, Edward?! She was sitting right there the whole time! Do you have any idea how she feels right now?!"  
_

"Yeah, Alice. I'm pretty sure I do!" I snapped, whipping around to glower at her.

"Alice, stop thinking mean thoughts at Edward." Esme said firmly. Alice grumbled about me deserving it.

Emmett walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch, oblivious to the tension in the room. He turned around when he realized we were all staring at him. "Sup?" he asked with a head nod.

"Nothing. Edward just acted like an idiot and Erika left. It's fine though! I don't care that my best friend won't talk to my brother because he broke her heart! I really don't mind!" Alice stormed up to her room, Jasper followed.

"_Re-jected." _Emmett thought sympathetically. Out loud he said, "So what're you going to do?"

"I have no idea." I muttered, banging my head against the piano.

**~~~~~~~~~~~****************************~~~~~~~~~~~~**

What shall they do? That is for you to decide, readers. This is my final installment. You must imagine an ending that fulfills your dream.

****

Who freaked out? Be honest!

I'm kidding! More will come, though I'm not sure how many more chapters. …Not sure if I entirely like this chapter… maybe it's just cuz they're fighting…

So… REVIEW! AND SHOW ME SOME ARTSY STUFF!

**Katara****: [**_**opening narration**_**] Water... Earth... Fire... Air. Long ago, the 4 nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all 4 elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he still has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world.**  
**  
hehe. I love Avatar. Think I might write a fic of it. One with Zuko, cause he's the BEST! I even have an idea all planned out… but then again I say that about Avatar, Teen Titans, and three different ones for Phantom of the Opera (GO PHANTOM!!!)  
… Don't trust me.**

~Chloe Knightshade.


	18. Chapter 17

**Hey there boys and girls (and Chihuahuas), readers of all ages. Here is another installment (perchance the last) of this tale, but more of that later. First we shall have some as custom randomness (parenthesis).**

…who loves tea? I do! I quite enjoy hot tea in a mug. I've no idea why, but it's quite nummy! In fact, I'm drinkin some right now while my sister tells me the sound of the phone ringing I hear is nonexistent. Methinks she is lying… T.T

Anywho! Back to the part of the perchance. Well, I'm quite sorry to say, but then again not so sorry to say, that I'm finding it harder and harder to complete this fic. I think it's because I'm getting annoyed with the crazed twilight hysteria-

Note: THIS IS HALLIE WHO HAS STOLEN THE KEYBOARD First of all, I did not steal it. She willingly handed it to me (or something like that). Second I was on the phone when she heard it "ring", so she is slowly rocketing into the ABYSS that is insanity. BUT it's hard to go somewhere where you've set up a permanent residence. :P She's getting to me.

Note: I, the correct writer for this story, have finally returned myself to mine post as author. I shall deal with Hallie by forcing her to drink tea! BAHAHAHA! DOES IT MATTER THAT SHE, IN FACT, LIKES TEA?! NO!

- so yeah, this is either the last or second to last chapter. It all really depends on how this chapter ends…

**  
Chapter 17**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*******************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Edward's POV**

In a surprisingly short amount of time, things went from bad to worse.

First, Erika wasn't speaking to me at all. Neither was Alice or Kira most of the time, and Zoe had joined in on Erika's oath of total silence. She had pretty much shut me out of her life, and I couldn't really blame her.

Then Alice angrily informed me that Erika could control whether any of our gifts worked on her, based off of the fact Erika could erase herself from Alice's visions. Which basically meant that if I got her too angry, she could become completely untraceable.

To just complicate things further, two nomads had contacted Carlisle and were going to visit, maybe permanently. They were brother and sister, Darien and Adrienne.

Alice stalked past my car and into her Porsche, dragging Jasper along with her. It was almost time to leave for school, and she wasn't happy with me. So she was firmly driving herself. Emmett and Rose still sat in the backseat of my car, though, and THEY weren't harboring many grudges. Sort of.

I sighed as I pulled into the parking lot, looking around but not really knowing what to look for. Kira's car had been smashed up, so I had no idea who was driving in what.

I searched through the thoughts in the parking lot and zeroed in on Kira's, who was happy Demetri had gotten her a new blue Honda civic hybrid, and this time it had a pair of complementary purple fuzzy dice on the rearview mirror. I looked up just in time to see Erika get out of the car, slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder. She hadn't spoken to me in a week and a half. It was driving me nuts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*******************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At lunch, I tried to ignore the fact she was ignoring me and talk to Emmett, but it didn't work out very well, seeing as we both knew I was listening to every word she said. Right then, she was talking to that idiot Sam.

"So… I was wondering…" he asked quietly, sounding nervous. "Um, do you think you'd like to do something tonight, me and you?" I immediately turned my head in their direction and forced down a growl. I'd known he'd been considering asking her out since everyone had decided we weren't dating, but I never thought he'd actually get up the nerve to ask.

Erika looked up at him and paused for a moment, not even glancing at me. "Yeah, sure." she nodded. "That'd be cool."

Sam grinned slightly, looking relieved. "Dinner at eight?"

Her facial didn't change even though she must have realized she wouldn't be eating. "Mkay."

I stood and stalked away from the table and out the cafeteria to my car. When I got home, the nomads were already there, talking to Carlisle in the living room.

Carlisle looked over at me as I came in. "Oh, this is Edward. Edward, this is Adrienne and Darien, they're considering staying with us." _Please smile. Please. Smile._

I forced a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you." Their thoughts seemed pleasant enough, and they looked around our physical age. They both nodded and said hi back, both of their accents were Irish. They both also had bright red hair, and black eyes. From their thoughts I could tell they hadn't hunted since they'd been reborn, which was a couple of months. It was rather impressive.

I headed up the stairs as I heard Carlisle begin telling them about our alternate form of eating.

The others came home soon, around two. Emmett walked by with a 'that was subtle' look, and the others followed. What surprised me though, was that Erika was walking behind Alice, purposefully not looking at me.

Carlisle stood, smiling slightly. "And this is the rest f our family: Alice and Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie, and Erika, who still lives with her human parents, but is still a part of us as well." His look added 'I hope' and she nodded with a small grin. She had made it clear that she held no grudge with the rest of my family, just me.

Erika and Alice began walking up to Alice's room, and I quickly followed. "What're you doing here?" I asked Erika, as Alice shot me a look.

"We have an English project, we're partners." Erika replied in a monotone, still looking ahead. Alice reached her room and shut her door once they were inside of it, leaving me in the hall.

"Look Erika, I just want to talk to you." I said at the door.

"If you break down my door, Erika and I will promptly burn you with it." Alice called out at me.

I sighed and went back downstairs. Darien was the only one in the living room, his sister having gone hunting with Carlisle first. I sat down and stared at the wall.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to start up a conversation. "So… I gathered from the way the intro went that most of you are already paired up…" I tried to look like I cared what he was talking about. "But the blond one… Erika? She seemed unattached. Is she? Because she is hot."

I glanced over at him before storming out of the house, not really knowing where I was going.

Somehow, completely and utterly by chance, I accidentally happened to find the restaurant Sam was taking Erika by inadvertently reading his thoughts. Then I found myself, out of the blue, at that restaurant, having unintentionally driven there. And by total coincidence, it was around 8:15.

But like I said, it was some weird fluke I even ended up there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*******************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Erika's POV**

Sam picked me up at seven forty-five. I wasn't extremely enthusiastic, but I'd always been good at lying, so I kept up a happy façade. If he'd been playing extremely close attention, he might have noticed, but he was too happy I suppose. That made me feel guilty. I knew the only reason I was coming was to get my mind off of other things. Other people. Other person.

"I'm really glad you said yes." Sam said with a shy smile. "I didn't really think you would." Ah, great. More of the tripping of the guilt.

"Yeah, me too." I replied, feeling awful but managing a smile.

"So, what're you going to order?"

"Erm…" Drat. I hadn't thought of that. "…Soup?" I said, it sounding more like a question.

"Are you sure?" he raised an eyebrow at my tone.

"…Yes?"

"Okay then." Sam nodded. "So, have you heard about-"

"Sam? Erika? What a coincidence, are you eating here too?"

Oh. Frickin. No.

Edward was standing at the side of our table, a look of fake shock on his annoyingly perfect face.

"Yes." Sam said tightly, glancing from me to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

"What're you doing here?" I asked through my teeth.

"Oh, just finished eating. Have you ordered yet?" Edward asked pleasantly, sitting down tensely in the seat next to Sam.

"Yes, actually." Sam said, looking mildly confused.

"What did you get?" Edward asked me with a smirk.

"Soup." I replied bluntly. "I was thinking about getting pork, but I've been seeing so many pigs lately I thought it may go against my new morals."

He ignored my comment and grinned at me. "Really? I thought you said something about soup being unappealing to you."

"_Leave me alone before I disembowel you." _I thought at him with a glare.

He smirked again at me in an obvious no. I kicked him under the table, hard. There was a large smashing sound and he winced slightly.

"What was that?" Sam asked, looking up.

"Must be construction outside." I replied innocently. Darn it. I'd dented the toe of my converse.

I quickly snatched my fork in a blur and feigned annoyance- which wasn't too hard, considering. "Drat. I dropped my fork. One moment." I dove under the table cloth. "_Get down here, Cullen."_

"I'll help you look. Their silverware is… um… hard to spot." Edward said loudly, and he suddenly was across from me under the table.

_"Since when did I invite you on my date?"_

"Since when have you called me Cullen?" Edward countered in a voice low and quiet enough for only me to hear.

_"Since you won't answer to stupid."_ I retorted mentally in an agitated tone. _"What are you doing here, besides trying to drive me mad?"_

"I needed to talk to you, and you're bent on not letting me."

_"I wonder why?"_ I said dryly.

He sighed. "Look, I know you're upset and that you have every right to be. But you have to understand, I didn't do it to hurt you. I never would."

_"So you accidentally hurt me. Well that certainly makes me feel better."_ I snorted.

A pained look crossed his face. "You saw a part of my past I hoped you would never have to see. For so long I lived in my past, and seeing just a part of it startled me into forgetting the present. I'm so very sorry. What can I say to make you realize that?"

I stared at him for a moment before grabbing my fork and sitting up back in my chair. He sighed and followed.

"Well, I really should be going." he said quietly, standing up. "See you both at school."

And You-Know-Who left me to finish my date with Sam, who was still baffled and wondering what he'd missed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~do

**Alice's POV**

Once again I found myself having one of those moments when you feel like you're sitting in a room full of people who, at the moment, are engaged in idiocy.

Edward was sulking (again) which was becoming a normal look for him lately, Rosalie was flipping pages of a magazine and gloating (probably comparing herself to the celebrities again), and Emmett…well…

First, let me put in something. When you become immortal, most of the time you end up becoming more than a little obsessed about something or another. For Carlisle, it's medicine and doctoring. For Edward, it's music and making an idiot of himself romantically. Rosalie's obsessed with her looks, I have a bit of a problem with shopping (according to the others, but I digress), and Jasper has his… issues… with being mildly violent and splurging on game shows and old westerns (which I blatantly refuse to watch). But Emmett has two: cars and… video games.

He'd played almost every one in existence, and on pretty much every system. At the moment, he was conquering the Wii. For the last day or to, he'd been freaking out over his newest one, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I had to admit, it was a pretty interesting game, and I'd even called dibs on it next. But he had a tendency to go over the top…

He suddenly leapt into the air, his mighty remote and nunchuk waving in triumph. "Yes! YES! ONLY THE PURE OF HEART CAN WIELD THE MASTER SWORD! AH-HA-HA-HA-HAA! Now I can vanquish the dark dominion of evil that plagues Hyrule!"

I looked up from my book and shook my head as Emmett continued cackling over his victory.

"You know, you're still going to have to have to save Ilia anyway." I commented.

Emmett's grin became a pout. "But I don't wanna. The second time I met her she took away my horse. And her eyes are too far apart."

"Don't worry, you're not even half way through yet." Erika said from the door, smiling slightly. I grinned and Edward's head shot up.

She cleared her throat. "Edward… can I talk to you?" He nodded quickly and stood, following her outside.

The second the door shut, Rosalie and I looked at each other before bolting and pressing our faces against the glass doors' blinds, concentrating on listening.

"Take that, you stupid goblin! And that! I am Link, Chosen Hero, Master of the Ocarina, owner of the Hero's Bow, Master Sword, Clawshot, AND tasteful Iron boots! You shall be smited! SMITED!" Emmett shrieked at the screen.

"Shut up!" Rosalie hissed. "They're making up!"

"They are?" Emmett's eyes widened and he ran over, slamming his face into the door, nearly squishing me.

"Hey, move!" I protested.

"Shh, Alice! I can't hear!"

"You're crushing me!"

"Both of you shut it!"

"Aw, they're hugging!" Emmett suddenly beamed.

"Awww…" we all three said in unison.

"Eh-hem." we all turned to face Carlisle, who was shaking his head. "Shouldn't you give them their privacy?"

"But they were about to kiss." Emmett whined.

"It's times like this when I worry about your masculinity." Erika said from the now-opened door behind us.

"It happens to me all of the time." I replied, noticing how Edward's arm was still around her and that they were both smiling.

_________________________________________________________________so

**Edward's POV**

She brushed her lips against my cheek and told me she loved me for the first time as she shifted to step out of my car and into her driveway.

"Thank you." I whispered quietly, and for a moment I didn't think she heard me until she looked confused.

"For what?"

I thought about an answer to that, one that wouldn't be too corny or cliché. But I couldn't think of one. So instead I kissed her again, this time on her lips.

When we pulled away she smiled in understanding and nodded. "Anytime." I watched her walk into her house and shut the door before driving off, smiling myself.

**THE END**

*****************************************************************he

If everything's in bold, I do apologize. My computer's unhappy again, methinks…

**So, I believe, dear readers, our tale has come to a close. I hope it was fulfilling and not too sappy. And, yes, I really mean the end this time. Please continue to review anyway, as I will always take your opinions to heart.**

Still, any fan art will be squealed over, and it would make me ever so happy.

But before we go and I sign off on this story for the last time, let me put in some hopefully un-tacky propaganda:

1. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read my new Avatar the Last Airbender fic, The Spirit of the Sun! PRETTY PLEASE! And review on it! I hope to also have my Teen Titans fic out there soon.

And 2. GO SEE ALICE IN WONDERLAND, AS IT IS AWESOME!

Until we meet again, dear readers,

~Chloe Knightshade  



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